Your Royal Highness
by efronxhudgensx
Summary: Kingdom of Canovia, a small island in the Atlantic, population 10 million with a constitutional monarchy. Gabriella was a 24 year old freelancer, promoting her artwork in NYC when she was called home to Canovia to marry the reckless prince, who needed an image change, in order to save her parent's company from bankruptcy. A marriage out of convenience or will there be love?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 01**

Gabriella lied there awake—both of her eyes wide open. How can she possibly sleep when her whole world was turned upside down in less than three days?

There are many words to describe Gabriella. Most people she met in America would say she's funny, kind, and extremely talented and passionate about art. Most people here at home, Canovia, would say she's the daughter of the famous Montezes who owned the largest chain of organic foods store in Canovia.

The Kingdom of Canovia is an island in the Atlantic. Canovia was an island in the Atlantic Ocean in between North America and Europe. Originally an English territory, the United States bought it from England in the 1880s in search for oil. Canovia was a United States territory for a few decades until breaking away to keep its own monarchy. Ever since the 1950s, Canovia has been a constitutional monarchy where the royal family acts as the head of state, however the parliament is the head of the government—similar to the way the United Kingdom works.

Canovia was small with an area of around fifty thousand and had a population of around ten million people. The people of Canovia adored their royal family and happily paid taxes each year to support their lavish lifestyles as long as they provide them with motivation and entertainment. Although the royal family of Canovia is nowhere near as well-known as the royal family of the United Kingdom internationally, it is followed by royal enthusiasts all over the world. The royal family also attracts the majority of the tourism of Canovia. Canovia is a wealthy country that relies on tourism, commerce, and oil. This small but wealthy country has made its mark on the world as one of the richest countries and one of the happiest places in the world.

But right now in Canovia, in Gabriella Montez's bedroom, lies the unhappiest and most distressed twenty four year old young woman in the world. Her eyes were not the only thing wide open but so were her ears. She could hear through the flawlessly painted walls of her room of her parents arguing.

"We can't do that to Gabriella, she's our daughter. She's still trying to do more freelance work and build her portfolio." Gabriella's mother, Maria, looked at her husband intently. "This is going to change her entire future. Don't you think it's a little selfish to ask our daughter to do something like this? It's basically trading the future of our company for hers."

"Maria, where do you think she gets money to live in New York City for the past four years? From us. We give her money to fund her dreams but right now the money is going to be gone if we don't figure out how to save our company. We are losing too much; people are losing faith in our stocks." Jorge shook his head and sighed in frustration. "I know it seems like we're selfish but maybe by marrying into the royal family, Gabriella can have it easier for the rest of her life instead of having to deal with the monetary issues we might have from our company."

Gabriella wanted to just close her eyes and forget about all this chaos. Why can't she be back in New York, making art, drinking and smoking with her friends while laughing through their jokes. Even with her eyes closed, her ears could still hear through these walls. Was this the end of Gabriella Montez? She grew up with luxury all her life, she had never once had to think about money but now money was all her parents talked about. Her parent's grocery store chain had been around since her grandparents were alive. It was an inherited business from her dad's father. It was the source of the Montez wealth and the source of her lifestyle. To have someone tell you that it will all be taken away almost overnight is the same as just being murdered. Gabriella Montez is not Gabriella Montez without all the things she was used to.

 _Four Days Ago…_

 _Gabriella's phone rang as she got out of the cab, paying the cab driver a fifty and then thanking him before she answered the phone. "Hey, mama."_

" _Hi sweetie, how was the gallery? Did people like the two pieces you displayed?"_

" _Yes, mom! They loved it. I'm so glad you helped me talk to the owner of the gallery; he loves my work and introduced me to some interior designers who are looking for works of modern art for their client's homes. It's an awesome opportunity." Her grin was wide and cheeky, her excitement written on her face. "How are you and daddy?"_

" _I'm glad to hear that, baby and we're doing alright. Listen, there's something Daddy and I need to talk to you about. It's not bad but I need you to be calm about it."_

" _That's silly mom. Of course I'd be calm. What is it?" Gabriella was a little concerned that it may be about her dad's health but from the sound of her mother's voice it didn't seem like something that was saddening her but more like giving her stress. Maria's tone was calm but full of precision as if she had rehearsed this line over and over in her head already._

" _We need you to come home tomorrow. We already bought a plane ticket for you. You need to come back to Canovia. Our company needs you, sweetheart. And so do the citizens of Canovia… "_

" _What do you mean, mom?" Her voice was now full of concern as she stopped walking down the street, she paused and moved to a corner to speak more privately about the topic. "Why does Montez Organic Foods need me to help and why are the citizens of Canovia waiting for my help…"_

" _How do you feel about marrying the prince?" Maria sighed, there it goes, she had dropped bomb._

" _What?!"_

And that was how Gabriella found out she had to marry the Prince of Canovia, Troy Bolton III, to save her family's multimillion dollar company. Her parents explained that by marrying the prince, the royal family promised to keep the Montez business going no matter the cost to keep a good image in the Montez family.

" _But why me?" Gabriella asked after her mother explained the situation and reason behind marrying the prince. "And what makes you think the prince wants to marry me?"_

" _Sweetie… it's an arrangement from your grandparents. They were friends with the Troy Bolton II which was the prince's grandfather. When he was King, they made a promise that if the child of their child agreed mutually, that an arranged marriage would happen. If you guys both agree to it, this marriage would happen. But it's not really an arranged marriage because without you two agreeing to it, it won't be happening. That's why I'm asking you. It can save our company and help promote your art."_

" _Mother… that's insane. I can't believe you're trying to sell me into this marriage. You're trying to save your company by trading your daughter? I mean I know we're friends with the royal family but I didn't know there was an arrangement made! And I've never even spoken more than two words to the prince. The last time I saw him was at some banquet grandpa took me to when I was eight. This is fucking insane, Mom." Two days ago, she was thinking about how to build her portfolio and have more of her Art in more galleries and conventions. She even extended her lease on her apartment in Manhattan but now everything was flipped upside down. It was up to her to save her parent's company and by doing that she would have to commit the rest of her life to someone she had mostly only seen in magazines._

And a few days later, here lies Gabriella, in her bed and wanting to shut off the increasing volume of her parents arguing in the room next to hers.

There was no winning in this situation. If she agreed to marry the prince, she wouldn't be able to pursue Art in NYC. If she didn't agree to marry the prince, she still wouldn't be able to pursue Art and probably won't be able to live the life she was so used to anymore. So that leaves her with one choice… she could lose her career but keep her parent's company instead of losing both.

* * *

"Here you are your royal highness." The chef placed the shiny plate of smoked salmon, some caviar, and a side of sautéed vegetables down. "Please dine well."

Troy Bolton III thanked the chef before trying the perfectly placed salmon. He savored the taste in his mouth and took a breath in. "Wonderful." He nodded. Troy continued to eat the salmon piece by piece until one of his servants poured more wine into his glass. He sipped the wine with his eyes closed, enjoying the taste of the sour and tingly liquid before he set it back down on the table. "Where's Chad?" He asked the servant that just refilled his drink.

"He's coming back right now, your highness. He just went to grab a few files from your desk you might want to overlook."

"Alright." He nodded and continued to enjoy his food.

"Your royal highness, here are the pictures and documents the queen wanted you to take a look at." Chad placed the folder next to Troy's food.

"Thank you, Chad." He opened the folder and looked inside to find a picture of a dark haired woman. Her smile in the picture was so perfect, it was that of true happiness. "Is this the girl the queen was talking about?"

"Yes, sir. She's Gabriella Montez. The daughter of Jorge Montez, CEO of Montez Organic Foods. Your grandfather, King Troy II, had some arrangements with her grandfather on a marriage between the two of you. But only if you two agree to it mutually." Chad explained carefully.

Troy already knew this information from the talk he had with his mother today. The King and Queen of Canovia are trying to have Troy get married as soon as possible. Troy's image in Canovia was not a pleasant one. He was known as a wild prince who was irresponsible and reckless. Although not nearly as reckless when you get to know him, he did need an image change. When he was in college four years ago, he had been caught in a scandal involving a drunken driving incident. This incident changed his image drastically and all the things he has done recently hasn't helped either. The people of Canovia had high hopes for their prince—the future King. They wanted someone they could look up to and be proud of. The King and Queen discussed that marriage would save him from an even worse turn in his image. Maybe by settling down not only would his image change, but his maturity level would rise when he had a wife to care about.

Troy didn't object to this idea because he knew that he needed to redeem himself one way or another. If not marriage then his parents wanted to send him back to university overseas. And he knew he didn't want to go study again.

He looked again at the picture of the woman that was chosen for him—Gabriella Montez. He chuckled a little and stuffed the photo into his pockets. Maybe it is about time Troy should settle down and took on a new challenge in his life—a wife.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading chapter one! Review and tell me your thoughts?_**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

"I've made my decision and I'm not going to go back on it." Gabriella pointed at her closet to direct her house maids to pack all of the clothes as she spoke to her mother who was frantically following her around the house.

"Gabriella, this is serious! Are you sure? I mean I know your dad and I have been a pain in the ass asking you about this marriage arrangement but I want you to think this through." Maria sighed.

Stopping in her tracks, Gabriella bit her lip and swallowed. She swallowed again as if she could swallow away this important decision and her mother's nagging. She was sick of the arguing in her home and tired of thinking about what to do about this dilemma. She just wanted to make a decision and now that she made her decision, her mother wouldn't stop nagging her about the final decision. "Yes, mother. I know you're worried I didn't think this through but trust me… I know this is what I want." She turned around to face her mother before stepping forward to grab Maria's hand. She squeezed her mother's hand tightly. Although deep down she didn't feel certain that this decision about her marriage to the prince was what she really wanted, she wanted to reassure her mother that everything would be okay and their company would be okay. "You and dad mean the world to me. I'd do anything for you guys and I know how much this company means to you guys. I promised you guys that even though I was pursuing art, I would want to manage the company eventually. I'm not going to let you guys down." The certainty and reassuring tone in her voice was almost too real. It was so real and bold that she felt weak deep down. She wasn't sure. She just wanted her parents to think she was sure. Thoughts were racing through her head and making loops like a never-ending race car track.

At this point she confused herself. Was she doing this because she didn't want to lose the luxuries in her life? Was it because she became so dependent on all these servants and lavish products that she would sacrifice marrying someone she actually loved for it? Was she marrying the prince because she was materialistic or was she marrying the prince because the family business meant this much to her?

Gabriella sighed after letting go of her mother's hand. Maria had quieted down after her daughter's reassurance.

The once vibrant young woman was now a miserable sacrifice for marriage. She continued to walk around the house ordering her house maids to pack little things that she knew she would miss after moving into the royal palace.

All she could do right now was move all these objects she loved to help distract her from this miserable ache that represented throwing away her career and love life for this marriage.

* * *

"Both the Prince and Miss Montez has agreed to this arrangement, your majesty." Chad handed the signed contracts to the King, John (who went back Jack in private) Bolton II.

"Perfect." The King nodded. He smiled at the signatures on the contracts and handed the folder back to Troy's personal assistant, Chad Danforth. "We will have the cake and royal wedding party planned in a week. The guest list will be handled by Lucille." He informed Chad about his wife Queen Lucille's plans for the guest list.

Most of this wedding will be broadcasted on national television. Canovia hadn't had a royal wedding since Troy's older sister Princess May's wedding five years ago. May currently resided in England after eloping with one of United Kingdom's very own Prince William's first cousins. Princess May's wedding attracted almost seven million viewers in Canovia, which was seventy percent of Canovia's small population.

"I will make sure the Prince's suit is ready by tomorrow so we have time for further alterations, your majesty." Chad nodded humbly at the King.

Not only did Troy have to look his best on their big day, Gabriella also devoted almost all of her time to fitting and trying on different wedding dresses. Unlike a traditional wedding, Gabriella's mother didn't have much say in her daughter's choice of a wedding dress. Instead, Gabriella was transported in a limo with one of the Queen's personal assistants. Gabriella was told that the Queen sent her to help find the perfect wedding dress. Gabriella felt almost numb throughout this whole process. She thought that the day she got to pick out her wedding dress would be one of the happiest days of her life but all she felt was emptiness. All these expensive fabrics of lace and satin felt so foreign to her. Was she a dress up doll or a bride?

Throughout the week, all sorts of arrangements were made so that the wedding would be perfect on the big day. Days of dress fitting, cake ordering, guest inviting, and room decorating were all finally coming to an end. Although so many plans were made for the soon-to-be husband and wife, they had not spoken a word to each other. Gabriella knew nothing more than a Wikipedia page when it came to her future husband.

And Troy knew nothing more than that one picture of Gabriella. Every once in a while, Troy would take the photograph out of his pocket and look at it, examine it, and study it. This was the woman he would have to be with for the rest of his life starting tomorrow morning. Was he ready? Was he ready to cherish this woman? Was he ready for this challenge? Most things in his life were always already planned for him like this marriage. Troy was used to having everything set up for him before it even crossed his mind. Did it matter that this marriage was also already arranged for him? Troy loved a challenge and beautiful women. Marriage to him was just another challenge, a challenge he knew he would win since the first time he looked at this photograph of his stranger of a fiancée.

* * *

 _Breathe, Gabriella, Breathe._ Her eyes were glued shut as she listened to her breath. If she opened her eyes right now, it would be the reality that finally arrived. She was about to walk down the aisle in a few hours.

"Okay, open your eyes, please, your highness." The makeup artist said as Gabriella fluttered her eyes open slowly. She felt the heavy lashes on the top of her lashline glued tightly to her thin and natural eyeliner. After blinking a few times she gave a small smile to the lady doing her makeup. "It looks good."

"Thank you, your royal highness." She grinned wider than Gabriella. Why were all these people happier than her even though she was the one getting married? Those last three words made her cringe… your royal highness. She would never get used to this.

"The princess is almost ready." Servants were pacing around the room, organizing and arranging everything else about the wedding that Gabriella didn't even know about.

The Queen's personal assistant walked into the room, the same lady that took her dress shopping, to check on Gabriella's makeup and dress. "Wonderful. You look absolutely beautiful, your highness." The tall dark skinned lady named Taylor McKessie smiled at Gabriella through the mirror. "Your highness, may I ask you to stand up so we can make sure the dress is fit properly?"

"Like I have a choice." Gabriella mumbled before standing up with a smile in her heavy tight-fitting mermaid dress. The sleeves were long and lacy showing conservatism and neckline was low, pushing her petite breasts up stylishly.

"Can you pull the Princess's dress up a bit." Taylor ordered one of the servants. "We need to cover the tattoo on the side of her arm." This dress covered all of her tattoos. She had a floral design about the size of her hand on her thigh, a small daisy on the side of her arm and a pink bow under her breasts. If this was a real wedding with a man she really loved, she would be wearing a sleeveless short dress that showed off pieces of art on her skin. But she didn't have a say in any of this, she was just a mannequin.

Her dark chocolate curls cascaded down her shoulders as her dress draped past her for what seemed like millions of miles past her steps. The dress was beautiful and fit perfectly on Canovia's most beautiful woman. To think this would normally be this day two people commit to each other for the rest of their lives knowing they loved and cherished each other was foreign to Gabriella. She was about to meet and marry her groom at the same time. Did all brides felt this lost during their wedding or was it only those who didn't marry out of love?

Troy stood at the end of the aisle where the bishop stood. The church the wedding took place in was Canovia's most famous and extravagant church. It was a Gothic style Catholic church that held hundreds and thousands and it was situated in the capital of Canovia—Canovine City.

Troy looked at his bride in disbelief. She was more petite than he thought but more beautiful than he'd imagine. The picture showed her innocence but the woman walking towards her was nothing but exciting and exotic. Her eye makeup was soft but her lips were red. Her eyebrows were filled in darkly and although her dress was conservative, her aura was different. Her eyes met his and he could swear he felt a zap. He smiled at her knowing that cameras were everywhere, capturing their every movement.

How did it feel to marry someone you actually took the time to grow love for? Did it feel to same? Troy's smile grew wider as Gabriella finally made her way close enough to stand across from him.

The words of the bishop hardly mattered to Troy as he examined and studied the face of his bride.

The words of the bishop hardly mattered to Gabriella as she looked at Troy with blank eyes and a blank state.

Her emotions were all mixed and jumbled but her face showed nothing of it.

"I will." Troy responded to the bishop's statement

"I will." Gabriella answered the same.

Troy took his bride's right hand from her and started to speak his rehearsed vows. "I, Troy Harrison Bolton III, take Gabriella Rosalina Montez, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse: for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law; and thereto I give thee my troth." And during the voicing of those vows were the first time Troy touched her hand and also the first time he spoke to her in almost sixteen years (since that banquet they both went to when they were eight years old).

Gabriella took Troy's left hand before looking into his eyes. "I, Gabriella Rosalina Montez, take Troy Harrison Bolton III, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse: for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law; and thereto I give thee my troth." Those words flowed through her lips heavily. Her tone was light but those words were the heaviest words she had ever said in her entire life.

After the ring had been blessed, Troy slipped the fourteen solitaire diamonds surrounding a twelve karat oval blue Ceylon sapphire set in eighteen karat white gold right onto Gabriella's fourth finger. In other words, the ring had a blue gem in the middle with diamonds around it and was more expensive than any number you could imagined in your head.

The ring fit perfectly around Gabriella's tan fingers. She looked at the ring and then looked up at Troy.

"Now you may kiss the bride."

Troy pushed a few strands of her back by Gabriella's ears, his eyes never leaving hers before he leaned down and met their lips for the first time—the first touch of her hand and now their first kiss, it was all in the public eye. Gabriella closed her eyes and let her lips move against his. Her top lip locked between his before he pulled away from her with a smile.

She looked down at her ring once more and then up at Troy's lips and then up to his eyes. This was it. She was now officially the Princess of Canovia. And the man standing in front of her was now her husband, the man she just committed herself to for the rest of her life minutes into speaking to him for the first time since they were eight years old.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for the reviews and all the support! Please let me know what you think about this chapter so far!**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03**

"Let me escort you to your bedroom, your royal highness." Taylor held onto Gabriella's arm as she walked down one of the many long hallways of the royal palace. "Your new personal assistant will arrive tomorrow. She will start early in the morning."

Wow. Gabriella thought. She would have a personal assistant too? At least there was one thing she didn't need to get used to in the royal palace. She always had servants and maids at her home so having a personal assistant should come naturally for her.

"Thank you, Taylor. You've helped a lot throughout this whole hectic wedding process." Those words came from the most genuine corners of her heart. Taylor helped her a lot. She helped her with dress fitting and vows rehearsing. If it wasn't for Taylor, she would have screwed up in front of all of Canovia. "Thank you so much. You're my first friend in the palace." She smiled at the girl.

"It's always my pleasure, your highness." Taylor nodded at her in a subordinate way. She opened the door for the newly crowned princess and welcomed her into the extravagant bedroom. Unlike what she imagined, Troy's bedroom was quite modern compared to the elegance in the rest of the palace. There were two large mirrors that covered the whole wall on the two sides of the King sized bed and a flatscreen TV on the wall in front of the bed. The bathroom was located on the other side of the gigantic room. The bathroom itself was large enough to fit two conventional bedrooms. There was a large bathtub in the middle of the bathroom and two walk in closets on the sides of the hallway leading to the bathroom. Gabriella had her own office inside of the room as well as Troy behind one of the mirrors which served as a door as well. A modern looking couch was placed by the large window that covered an entire wall and overlooked the Kingdom's capital.

"This is unbelievable." Gabriella walked up to the window and touched the glass.

"This was previously just the Prince's bedroom but this will now be the bedroom for the two of you." Taylor smiled at the princess. "I will leave now, your highness. Your makeup and lotions are already all laid out in the bathroom for you to use for tomorrow. Everything you packed has been unpacked and placed for you, your royal highness."

"Goodnight, Taylor." Gabriella nodded at her before Taylor said her goodnight and headed out the door.

Gabriella walked around the room while she was still in her wedding dress. Everything in this room was incredible—the décor, the walls, and the view. She walked around the room until she caught sight of a picture of Troy that sat on top of the dresser. It was a picture of him when he was around seven or eight. She smiled at the cute little grin Troy had on his face. It resembled the smile he gave her today when they saw each other at the end of the aisle.

"Hello there, my lovely wife."

Gabriella's head turned around when she saw the Prince standing by the door of the bedroom. He shut the bedroom door before walking over to his wife. "You look beautiful. This dress really suits you."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and laughed a little. "You know, beautiful is a really strong word." She set down the picture frame and turned her attention to Troy. "You don't even know me. How do you know that I'm beautiful?"

"Are you kidding me? I have seen many many photos and today I got to witness it in person. You are stunning." Troy raised an eyebrow at her.

"That just means I'm rather attractive. And I already know that, your highness. Or else I wouldn't be standing in front of the Prince that all Canovian women swooned over. Obviously I was attractive enough to have you say yes to this marriage."

"Hey now… do I look that superficial to you? I know you like art and I thought that was very cool."

"Yeah one of your many servants probably handed you a folder with my information in it and you read it like that Wikipedia page I read about you." Gabriella walked away from him and down the hallway towards the bathroom.

Troy chuckled at her remarks. She was definitely hard to talk to. They had only exchanged a few sentences and she was already being a smartass about everything. "You don't know me either, Gabs."

Gabriella stopped in her tracks and turned around; she advanced towards him and stopped when they were just centimeters apart. "Don't call me that. It's Gabriella for you. You don't fucking know me, your royal ass." Her fingers poked at his chest with force when she spat out those words.

"Damn why are trying to be such a hard ass? I mean we're married now, we might as well try to get along." He was not intimidated by her at all. She was at least a head shorter than him and her fingers were as weak as a sponge cake. He knew this girl was all talk and no walk. "You know we are supposed to be consummating our marriage right now? But instead you're trying to tell me I can't call you a simple nickname I just thought of on the spot."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and turned around to continue her trip to the restroom. "We won't be consummating anything. You can go consummate your marriage to your right hand like you have since you found out about your dick." She shut the door almost all the way, leaving a little crack as she slipped out of her wedding dress and turned on the bath water.

When Troy heard the bath water turn on, she walked towards the bathroom and yelled on top of the water sounds. "Hey you know you can call for a servant? They can turn on the water for you at a perfect heat and make some bubbles."

"No I prefer to do these things myself." She walked towards the slightly cracked bathroom door and shut it right at Troy's face.

* * *

The dull pain on the back of his neck struck him as Troy woke up on the flat and hard carpet. He turned his head only to find his vision capturing the space underneath his bed. His body was cold and there was an unknown bruise on his thigh. "Shit. What happened?" He sat up and peeked on top of the bed to find his wife asleep on the bed with the blanket. Her hair was all over her face and her white flowy night top rode up her stomach just enough to display her navel piercing. Her shorts also rode up her thigh, displaying a detailed tattoo of a floral design. Troy stood up from the ground and rubbed his eyes, he knew he definitely got kicked off of his own bed last night. Whether it was intentional or not, he would guess the former.

"Hey. Gabriella, wake up." He pushed her lightly. They planned to eat breakfast with his grandparents today and they couldn't be late. He pushed her body a few more times but only getting a murmured 'stop'.

Troy sighed and walked towards the bathroom. He needed to take a shower and start getting dressed. This breakfast was very important, there would be photographers taking pictures of it and posting it in magazines and newspapers.

As he got into the shower, he almost slipped on the conditioner that Gabriella accidentally drizzled on the bathroom floor. He caught himself by holding onto the side of the sink so he didn't once again hit the floor to create more sores and bruises. _Damn this girl was messy._ Her lotion and face wash and hair care products were everywhere. How was he going to live with this mess for the rest of his life?

* * *

Gabriella shifted her head when she heard a voice call for her over and over again.

"Your highness, it's time for you to brush your teeth. We must get going, your royal highness."

Gabriella opened her eyes slowly and rubbed her eyes to adjust the unfocused vision. A pair of foreign brown orbs met hers. "Who are you?" She rubbed her eyes again to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"I'm Sharpay Evans and I am your new personal assistant." The blonde had a sleek pulled back blond ponytail. The high ponytail was so sleek that not a single hair escaped from the hairtie's grip.

"Oh… Hello." Gabriella gave her a small smile.

"Your highness, do you want me to warm the water for you to bathe?"

"No thanks. I bathed last night. I'm just going to brush my teeth." Gabriella got up from the bed and walked towards the bathroom. She opened the bathroom door—not really caring that Troy was taking a shower in the shower stall with clear glass. She expected Sharpay not to follow her inside the bathroom by closing the door until it was only left ajar.

"Good morning, husband." She gave him an almost dead and rehearsed smile before she grabbed her toothbrush and started brushing her teeth.

Troy immediately raised his voice as he covered his manhood. "Shit what the fuck?" He nervously turned around so he wasn't facing Gabriella. "You can't just walk in."

"Last time I checked we shared this bathroom and we are married." She spat out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth.

"We never consummated our marriage so this isn't allowed." Troy turned around to look at Gabriella.

Gabriella walked right up to the glass and shook her head. "Oh please, whatever you have isn't even impressive. So much for the Prince's dick. I had such high hopes." She chuckled and walked out the bathroom door.

Was he really lacking down there? He thought he was pretty well equipped compared to other men but looks like Gabriella had seen better. "Shit." He cursed under his breath and looked down. Was it because he wasn't big enough for Gabriella? Was that why she seemed like she would rather never perform those wifely duties? And why didn't she feel anything seeing his hardening dick in front of her with nothing but glass in between. Although they were married legally, their bodies were definitely divorced. How could a marriage be successful without sexual attraction? And how could she not be attracted to this?

Troy stepped out of the shower and grabbed a fresh clean towel from the railing next to the shower. He tied it loosely around his waist and walked directly out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.

"Gabriella, we have to go to—" His voice suddenly came to a halt as his eyes caught a familiar pair of brown orbs. There stood a young blonde in work trousers, pumps, a black blazer, and a collared white shirt with her hair tied back tightly. And that hair color and eye color were both all too familiar… it belonged to his ex-girlfriend, Sharpay Evans.

He was frozen right there at that spot. The sight of Sharpay standing just a couple feet away from him was like he was taken back in time. Just the sight of her put him in a time machine. He stared at her small figure and the professional clothing that he had never seen her in. Her hair was neat and a much tamer style than he remembered.

Sharpay turned around and her eyes met the all too familiar blue eyes of Troy Bolton. But unlike Troy, she wasn't the least bit shocked. After all, she knew who she was working for when she applied for this position. "Good morning, your royal highness." She looked down and nodded subordinately.

"What are you doing here?" Troy was still in shock to see his ex-girlfriend standing in front of him in professional attire.

"I work here now. I am the Princess's personal assistant, your highness." She nodded.

Troy and Sharpay were in a relationship for three years. He met her when they were both studying in university. They studied at University of Westminister in London and met during their freshman year. Troy dropped out of college his third year after his unfortunate drunken driving scandal and returned to Canovia so that the King and Queen could closely monitor his behavior. Sharpay graduated at the university and has since then returned to Canovia. Troy and Sharpay had a secret relationship. They went out in public in disguise and very few people actually knew they were dating besides from their close friends. He kept their relationship under the radar because he didn't want Sharpay to get affected by the tabloids. Sharpay was an ordinary girl of ordinary background unlike Gabriella who was the heiress to a multimillion dollar business. She wasn't used to the media writing about her and giving her attention. Her father was an accountant and her mother owned a small boutique. She lived an ordinary life in a cozy single family home. She had a brother and her parents worked hard to send her to college. She graduated university with a major in psychology and a minor in hospitality and tourism. During their three year relationship together, Sharpay and Troy both tried many different things and balanced each other out in everyday life. Troy was a risk taker, he enjoyed trying new things while Sharpay was bold and brave but not reckless. During their days in London, they lived fulfilling college lives—trying everything from rolling (doing Molly/MDMA) at London raves to pulling all-nighters at the library for finals week. Troy was her rock and she was his. But that all came to an end when Troy's behavior was out of control and stirred up a crazy scandal that involved an unfortunate accident.

Sharpay was a smart girl; she wanted to have a future. And at that point, there were many problems in their relationship, they ended up parting ways when Troy came back to Canovia and she stayed behind to complete her degree. And that was how their wild three year relationship ended. It ended on an unfortunate accident and the reality of Troy being the Prince of Canovia and Sharpay being just an ordinary college student.

Troy looked at Sharpay in silence for a few seconds. He had not spoken to her since they broke up and every time he thought about her, he knew it was better for her to stay out of her life after how they ended. "Come on don't be silly, I'm not your highness, I'm your Troy, remember?" He was slightly disgusted by the way she addressed him as if she forgot all about their past. He walked closer to her, the towel still tied around his waist. "Shar—"

"Stop." Sharpay looked up at him and pushed his chest to create some distance between them. "Please stop, your highness." She gulped nervously. "I'm aware of our past but that has nothing to do with my relationship with the Princess. And it also has nothing to do with why I decided to work in the royal palace. I'm here because my degree allows me to be and the salary was extremely attractive considering the amount of student loans I took out, and also I have all intentions to devote my services to the Princess of Canovia. I am not here for personal reasons. Those personal reasons were left back in London and long forgotten." Sharpay took a deep breath while her eyes were still locked on his. "Your royal highness."

"You don't miss me at all?" Troy bit his bottom lip before letting out a small chuckle.

"The girl back in London when she was twenty one years old would have said yes. But right now, I want nothing to do with you more than just addressing you by 'your highness' and giving my full servitude towards the Princess. I hope you understand, your highness." She finally broke eye contact with Troy and stepped away from him. "If you excuse my exit, I'm going to help the Princess pick out a suitable outfit for the royal family breakfast, your highness." She turned around and walked towards the hallway that led to Gabriella's walk-in closet. Her shoes clicked against the floor of the hallway and Troy's eyes were still locked on her backside as she walked away, just like the way she walked away from him four years ago.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you thought of the chapter! I appreciate every review I get! Thanks!**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04**

Gabriella picked up a newspaper as she walked around the grocery store. There she was… on the front page. The headlines read "First Royal Meal". And underneath was a picture of Troy, the Queen, the King, and her eating a lavish breakfast in the royal dining room last week. The citizens of Canovia all loved her already. There was a fan club created and everywhere she went, people asked her for autographs. It was truly amazing how people could love and adore her without even knowing her. Just because she represented their nation, they adored her like no other. That's when Gabriella knew how important she was to this country. She was an icon of Canovia.

"Your highness, what else are you going to need from the store?" Sharpay looked onto her list in her phone of all the groceries Gabriella insisted on purchasing. "These are all fruits, your highness…"

"Yep. I'm buying one of every single type of fruit available in this store." Gabriella smiled at her and nodded. Technically, this was her store. It was a Montez Foods chain store. She told her father earlier that she would need lots of fruits and with his approval, she will be able to leave with as many fruits as she wanted.

"May I ask why, your highness?" Sharpay looked up from her phone with a puzzled expression. Gabriella's schedule has been packed lately. Ever since she got married, she has been going from one place to another doing talks and making appearances at charity events and banquets. She barely had time with Troy or time for herself. Today was her first free day and she was absolutely going to take advantage of that.

Gabriella sighed as she thought about how to properly explain the reason to Sharpay. "Well… let's just say I've lost my fire lately. Ever since I got engaged to Troy, I have been so busy with things that pleased others more than it pleased me. And right now, I want to do something I love. I've lost that inner fire that motivates me to create art. And now I need it back. I was thinking I can start by painting some still life portraits. That should be able to rekindle that fire within me." She smiled at Sharpay as she picked up an exotic horned melon and dropped it into her cart. "I don't want to just paint fruits I want there to be colors and I want the colors to be so vibrant and exact that you can taste the fruit by just looking at it."

Sharpay nodded slowly as she tried to process what the Princess just said. Gabriella was a creature of her own. She had never heard someone say something like that before and she had never met anyone who wanted to buy one of every fruit in a grocery store. "I guess I understand, your royal highness." She scratched her head as she looked away with a confused expression. She shrugged it off and looked back down on her phone to see which fruit they had to pick up next.

After a couple of hours of picking out fruits, they finally made it back to the palace. While Sharpay helped Gabriella carry in her many bags of groceries, Gabriella thanked her and dismissed her for the day.

"But your highness, you can' just let me rest early… what if you need me for something and I'm not around?" Sharpay insisted.

"Sharpay, I assure you I will probably be in the garden and my room for the rest of the day. I need some alone time to work on some paintings. I know you want to help me as much as possible but art is something I want to do alone." Gabriella said while setting up the fruits on a table outside in the garden.

Sharpay sighed and shook her head a little while she smiled at how focused Gabriella seemed on arranging the exotic fruits. "Alright." She smiled at Gabriella. "I'll see myself out then, your royal highness. I'll be back bright and early tomorrow morning to go over your schedule for tomorrow. Have a fantastic rest of your day, your highness."

After Sharpay exited the garden, Gabriella cheered to herself. Finally, there was no Sharpay, no Troy, no press, no reporters, and no guests to deal with. All she wanted to do was paint and paint and paint until her hands were sore. She grabbed her supplies from her office and started thinking about the colors she wanted to use for the fruits that she arranged on the table out in the garden. She wanted to capture the bright sunlight that shined on the colors of the fruits. The fruits were arranged perfectly which was exactly what she wanted to emulate on paper. As she started to let her inspiration run wild on paper, her mind drifted into a solitary paradise. She lit a thin and long 120 cigarette and puffed it in her mouth. This was what she enjoyed the most. Art and some puffs of nicotine. She let out a prolonged breath to release the smoke as she flicked some of the ash off onto the ash tray. This was what she imagined paradise to be—one hand with a cigarette and one hand with a paintbrush.

While Gabriella let her thoughts transfer into visual art, Troy was also taking a day off in the palace garden. The flowers were blooming this time of the year which made it perfect for Troy to take some pictures of all the different colors in the garden. The peonies, daisies, and violets filled the garden. There was a fountain in the middle that had a statue of the first Canovian King. Next to the flowers, there were bushes that made a maze. The garden looked like it came out of Alice in Wonderland. Roses were perfectly red as if they were actually painted. The colors were extremely vibrant on this bright sunny day.

Troy snapped a few pictures of the different flowers before he walked up to a peony and captured the little details on the petals. He walked over to the other side of the garden and zoomed in when he looked into the lens. He wanted to capture the color of the sky which complemented the colors of the flowers. While searching for the perfect angle to capture the photograph, he caught a familiar brunette in his camera view. He peeked out from the lens and saw Gabriella sitting in the gazebo as she painted. Her hands were occupied with a paintbrush and a cigarette. He smiled and chuckled a bit to himself before looking into his camera lens again. He zoomed in on where she was sitting and captured a couple of pictures of her focused state of painting. Troy stopped taking photographs and walked over to the gazebo to find his wife. "Hello there."

Gabriella was shocked to hear Troy's voice and almost dropped her paintbrush when she saw Troy standing next to her with a camera in hand. "Oh hi." She took another puff of her cigarette.

"I didn't know you smoked." He looked down at the cigarette between her fingers and then at the painting in her lap.

"You still don't know a lot of things about me." Gabriella sighed. "I don't smoke that much. I only do it when I feel like I need some inspiration and some form of stress relieving." She crushed the burning flame of her cigarette into her ashtray before disposing of it in there. "You know, going to like five banquets in a week is really stressful."

"Yeah I know, I've been to like hundreds of them." Troy rolled his eyes.

"Huh…" Gabriella returned her attention to the painting. "Well here's something I learned about you today, I didn't know you did photography." She looked up from her painting and returned her attention back on Troy again.

"Well you know, you don't really let me speak half of the time we're together." Gabriella insisted on sleeping on the couch for the past week no matter how much Troy protested against it. They haven't been sleeping on the same bed or even touching each other on the arm for the matter. Gabriella seemed so stubborn about his personality. She seemed to just believe the things she heard about Troy Bolton before letting him say anything about himself. Troy never thought his wife would be so hard to deal with. He was ready for a challenge but this put challenge to another level. She was demanding like royalty but wished to be free like a bird. She was a different specie on her own. Troy married a rich girl with a free spirit. This was almost the opposite from his ex-girlfriend Sharpay. Sharpay was down to earth and easy going. But Troy always loved a challenge, and this challenge only excited him.

Gabriella looked up at Troy and deep into his eyes before speaking again. "Okay. Look… how about we have dinner together tonight. Just the two of us and I'll let you talk all you want." She suggested with a smile.

"Wow what an honor. I get to eat with my wife one and one. Absolute dream come true." Troy rolled his eyes sarcastically before bringing his camera up to snap a picture of Gabriella.

* * *

Later on in the evening, Troy and Gabriella had a dinner as promised. During the supper, the couple spoke of very simple things. Gabriella would complain about the banquets she went to and Troy would complain about the interviews he did and they would have a small chuckle or giggle over a funny joke.

 _Was this what a marriage should be like?_ Troy thought to himself. Did married couples just talk about their days and laugh about jokes that aren't even half way funny? While they both chewed on their caviar and steak, the couple seemed to have run out of things to talk about. The spice in their conversation seemed to have died. The rest of dinner went by without much conversation.

As dessert time rolled around, Gabriella decided to personally pay a visit to the kitchen. "Wait there, Troy." She got up from the chair and made her way down the hallway towards the kitchen. She asked the chef to prepare a fruit platter with a chocolate fondue. She wanted to make use of the fruits she selected for her art. Gabriella grabbed the fruit platter from the chef and brought it out personally with the chef behind her with the fondue. She set it down on top of the lengthy dining table and sat back down in her chair. "Look what we're having for dessert." She smiled at her husband.

"Wow… this looks delicious." Troy took a sip of his wine before lifting his fork to take a stab at the honeydew melon on the fruit platter.

Gabriella nodded and took a piece of strawberry before she dipped it in the chocolate. She lifted the red and juicy fruit up between her lips, sucking on it slightly before her teeth caught the tip and let it slide towards the back of her mouth, the juices of the berry staining her lips.

Troy couldn't help but notice the effortlessly sensual action from the woman across the table. He watched as she licked her lips and took another bite. He bit down on his lips before they formed into a smirk. "Are strawberries your favorite?"

"Mhm…" Gabriella nodded before grabbing a cherry and doing the exact same. Her eyes were closed as she savored the sweetness and sourness in the fruit.

Troy couldn't stop watching her eat just a small fruit. How could he live with this flamboyant woman for the rest of his life without wanting to jump on top of her every time she ate a fruit? He looked away as her eyes opened. If only she would look at him the same way. He could barely keep his eyes off of her eating another piece of fruit and slowly he could feel himself warming up internally. How could this woman make him feel so flushed so easily? She was just eating a piece of fruit but yet he felt like he wanted to leap over the table and do something more than just eating with her mouth. And to make it worse, she was wearing a low cut red crop top with a long black cardigan and a professional looking but high-waisted tight fitting black skirt. He got up from his chair and almost slammed his hand down on the dining table. "I'm going to back to my room."

"What?" Gabriella looked at him in confusion. "You only ate one piece of melon. I arranged this fruit platter just for us." She frowned at him as she sighed. "I was really trying to put some effort into this dinner so we could communicate more."

Troy sighed and bit down on his lip before releasing his bottom lip and looking at Gabriella who had chocolate smeared on her lips. If only he could tell her why he needed to dismiss himself from this dinner… "I'm tired. I need some sleep and I don't like these other fruits anyway." He was trying to look away from her as he lied about why he needed to make an escape. He couldn't stand watching her eat a fruit so sensually. He couldn't bear to watch a woman he couldn't have yet seduce him so effortlessly.

"Literally a few minutes ago you just said it looks delicious." Gabriella rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. "Whatever. This time it's you not putting an effort into this, not me. So don't say I wasn't allowing you to talk because I clearly gave you a chance by having dinner with you and even arranging dessert." She stood up from her chair and started walking towards the exit of the dining room which was behind Troy's chair.

How could she be so standoffish and flamboyant but also so interesting? He could feel himself getting frustrated at her stubbornness and uncooperativeness. She always had a way of saying things that made her look like the victim. It was as if she couldn't take the blame for anything. She was spoiled for sure. He hated that she was so spoiled and headstrong. She couldn't take no for an answer and everything she always acted like everything she did was better than him. Goddamn it, he hated all these things about her. These traits he already learned about her from living with her for only a week and yet hating all these things about her, he couldn't help but want her at this very moment. She was headstrong and spoiled but also beautiful and ambitious when looked at in another light. Before he could stop himself, he stood up and grabbed onto her wrist to stop her from leaving and pulled her against him and against the table. They were now face to face and just centimeters apart.

She swallowed and blinked up at him before looking him in the eyes.

He didn't move and she didn't move. He could barely think of what he wanted to say. He lifted his finger and wiped the smeared chocolate on her lips. She watched him as she licked her lips, her tongue gliding over his finger slightly. Troy's eyes followed his own finger while it brushed over her plump lips. He bit down on his bottom lip again to stop himself from pushing his own lips onto hers. "Goodnight." He let go of her and turned around to walk out of the dining room.

Gabriella stood there with her back against the table, her breath stuck in her throat. She watched him walk away as she tried to replay what just happened in her mind. Did he want to leave because he almost wanted to do things to her that she never thought she would want to as well? She could hear his footsteps get fainter and fainter when she heard the sound of their bedroom door open and shut.

Gabriella sighed and walked out of the dining room and towards their bedroom. When she stepped inside, Troy was nowhere to be found but she could hear the water running in their bathroom. She laid down on the bed as she felt the wine working on her mind. She was starting to feel sleepy as she closed her eyes. Once her eyes were closed, the thought of Troy's finger swiping over her bottom lip replayed in her mind. She wanted to open her eyes to stop the scene from replaying but she couldn't. She couldn't tell whether it was because she felt a thrill from thinking about it or whether it was the wine kicking in. Either way, Gabriella Montez would end up falling asleep with the thought of her husband on her mind… for the first time.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for all the support! Let me know what you thought of the chapter in the reviews :)**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 05**

The sun shined through the little crack through the unclosed curtain. Gabriella's eyes slowly opened as she checked from her right side to the left. She was alone in bed. What did she hope for anyway? For the past three nights, Gabriella has been hoping that maybe Troy would be next to her when she opened her eyes. Ever since that night they ate together, Troy has been sleeping on the sofa. He would wait until Gabriella was asleep to situate himself on the sofa. And ever since that night, Gabriella had been curious what it would be like to actually sleep next to Troy.

Before she could get out of bed, she heard a knock on their bedroom door. "Your highness, it's Sharpay Evans."

Gabriella jumped out of bed and walked towards the couch where Troy was still sleeping. "Get up." He shook his body. "My assistant is coming in, we need to at least look like we slept in the same bed."

Troy's eyes fluttered open to find Gabriella's curls brushing over his neck and he could feel her breath on his face as she spoke. He got up and laid down on their bed before Gabriella opened the door to let Sharpay in.

"Good morning, your royal highness." Sharpay smiled at Gabriella at the door. "May I come in, your highness?"

"Yes." Gabriella smiled back at Sharpay and stepped back to let her in.

Troy's right eye peeked open to see the two women talking about Gabriella's schedule quietly while they sat on the sofa.

"There's a dinner with the queen tonight and then you and the Prince are scheduled to fly out to French Polynesia for your royal honeymoon." Sharpay looked down at the binder and handed the paper to Gabriella.

"Wait what?" Gabriella raised an eyebrow in confusion. She didn't know they would be going to a tropical island together, she didn't even know they were going to go on a honeymoon. For the past two weeks, everything has been planned for her down to the littlest detail in her life and even something as intimate as a honeymoon. "Where will we be staying?"

"At the Hilton in Bora Bora. We will have up to seven security guards with you and the prince."

"You're coming with me, right?" Gabriella was hoping that Sharpay could go with her to help her with all her traveling needs. "I'm going to need you." She smiled at the blond genuinely. She really did need Sharpay. She was a big help when it comes to everything in her new life.

"Yes, of course. I will assist you in everything, your highness. And Chad will be traveling with the Prince as well." Sharpay smiled at Gabriella before getting up from the sofa. "I picked two outfits for you last night. One for the charity event after lunch and one for the dinner with the queen. They are ready in the closet."

"Thanks, Sharpay. I'll meet you in the dining room after I get dressed." The brunette shut the door after Sharpay headed out into the hallway.

* * *

The bath water almost burned his skin but that was how he liked it. He liked the hot water that was one degree off from giving him burns and the steam that rose up to his face. At least this way, he could feel relaxed and at least this way he could feel content and warm. Troy grabbed the glass of champagne sitting on the edge of the bathtub and took a small sip before setting it back down. _Honeymoon._ He thought.

In a normal marriage, the newlyweds would have planned the honeymoon together instead of having it arranged and scheduled by the queen and her assistants. He groaned at the thought of them together and away from all the events, charity balls, and banquets that they busily attended. They would be alone with nothing but each other. The thought of them being together almost all the hours of the day made Troy's heart race a little faster and his thoughts to be clouded with every emotion from lust to frustration. He barely knew this woman besides from her living habits and certain personality quirks. And because of the unknown, he wanted to know so badly. He wanted to know why she always acted like he was the last thing she wanted to touch on Earth. Why did she seem to hate this marriage so much while he was honestly trying to be a good husband? Why was she trying to be such a terrible wife?

Maybe he was weird. Shouldn't he care more about marriage? Why was he okay with this arrangement from the very start? He looked down at the bubbly water and sighed before looking up at the ceiling. Gabriella was the biggest challenge in his life as of now. And how was this honeymoon going to work with Sharpay tagging along? Although they didn't really interact anymore, it still felt strange for her to always be in and out of the bedroom with his presence. And now she would be at his honeymoon? His ex-girlfriend would be at his honeymoon. But why would it matter? It wasn't like Gabriella would actually care. She barely looked at him half of the time.

He got up from his long bath and dried himself off with a towel. Troy tied the towel around his waist and twisted the doorknob to step back out into his bedroom to see Gabriella running around the room frantically. He laughed a little and watched as his wife tried to put an earring in and put heels on at once.

"Why the rush?"

"I'm late to the dinner with the queen." Gabriella stepped into the other shoe and fixed her hair. "Sharpay will be here later to pack my luggage for the flight to Bora Bora tomorrow." She straightened out her long black dress before starting to walk towards the door.

She could barely finish her sentence before dashing out the door and shutting it. Troy tidied up the mess she created on the floor from searching for her shoes before Sharpay rushed into the door with a few empty luggages.

"Well don't you like to come by when I'm only wearing a towel."

Sharpay turned around to find Troy with a towel wrapped around his waist while standing by the bed. "Oh hello, your highness." She rolled the two luggages into the closet as she tried her hardest to distance herself from her ex-boyfriend.

Troy followed the blonde into his wife's closet and spoke again. "Are you coming with us?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you coming with us to French Polynesia?" Troy walked closer to Sharpay until he was directly behind her.

She could feel the water from his hair dripping down onto her blazer before she turned around. "Your highness, I would appreciate it if my blazer could stay dry." Her eyes met his again before she swallowed nervously. Those blue eyes were her world when she was in university. She would have done anything for those blue eyes. "And yes, I am coming with the Princess, your highness. And so will your own assistant Chad Danforth." She broke eye contact and turned back around to fold a few blouses before placing them in the luggage.

"Alright." Troy turned around to walk back out into the bedroom. "Have a nice day." He exited the room and stepped into his own bedroom.

Sharpay stopped packing for a second and touched the wet shoulder of her blazer. Why did it feel so strange to have a civil conversation with him? Did he really come into the closet just to ask if she was going to vacation with him and his wife? No other motives?

She returned to packing and shook the thoughts out of head. She was now working for the Princess. And the Princess was nice to her so she must stay loyal and give her full servitude towards her with no doubts. A lot of women would kill for this position so she had to cherish it. She couldn't let an ex-lover affect her employment.

* * *

"I'm so sorry for being late, your highness." Gabriella apologized sincerely as she stepped into the dining hall. The queen was sitting across from Gabriella in a long table. Queen Lucille had her hair tied up in a bun, a strapless gown and a shining diamond necklace.

"Take a seat, Gabriella." She lifted the glass of wine to her lips as she took a small sip.

"Thank you." The younger brunette sat down in the seat across from the queen as a servant pulled out the chair for her. Before she could say anything else, the servants brought out their food and placed it in front of the two women.

"I requested the chef to cook your favorite. Salmon and asparagus with a dessert of tiramisu." The queen smiled.

"Thank you so much. I would enjoy any food prepared in the royal kitchen anyway." Gabriella started cutting into her smoked salmon.

"Do you know why I asked you to have dinner with me today?"

"No, your highness. May I know the reason?" Gabriella sipped on her wine before giving her full attention towards the queen. She stared at the queen's eyes that lacked emotion. She was empty. She was beautiful but empty. Did she love the King? Or was it a set up like herself and her son? This was going to be Gabriella in two decades. She would be empty and beautiful with the highest royal title a woman could receive. Is this what she wanted? It was too late to back out anyway.

The queen's smile turned flat when her assistant, Taylor, set down five tabloid magazines on the table with Gabriella on the cover. "Have you read any of this, dear?"

Gabriella gulped nervously before she reached over and grabbed one of them. _The Princess Junkie_ was one of the giant tabloid eye-catchers. She flipped them open immediately to find an article talking about her lifestyle back in New York.

"I swear I don't do drugs, your highness." She read the article in disbelief. Apparently a few of her friends back in New York sold her out to a magazine for a few times when she took a few bong hits.

"Then why are there so many articles about you and your reputation. Don't tell me they are all fake because there is even a picture of you passing a joint circulating on the internet."

"I can explain—" Could she really explain? She couldn't. There wasn't an explanation behind it besides it being her old lifestyle and her old friends.

"I should have known. I shouldn't have been so careless to marry my son off just to change his reputation. Now his reputation is even more tainted from marrying a low-class harlot like you." The queen slammed her palm against the table in anger.

Gabriella's eyes welled up with tears. She tried to hold them back before they started to roll down uncontrollably. She wasn't a low-class whore. She was the daughter of the CEO of Montez Foods. How could her mother-in-law be so cold all of a sudden? "I am the daughter of a multimillion dollar company. I am not a low-class anything, your highness."

"Then why would you hang out with people like this? Why would you participate in activities like this? You are the role model of young girls in this country. Have you ever thought about that?"

"I didn't know I would be marrying the Prince one day. I didn't know anything." Gabriella's tears rolled down her face uncontrollably. She couldn't take it anymore. How could everything be her fault if she didn't even know about any of this?

"The royal family thought you were a high-class educated young woman from a promising multimillion dollar company. But you are the complete opposite. This is just a disgrace. I shouldn't have married off the Prince on a whim." The Queen stood up from her chair and sighed heavily. "Taylor, I'm finished with this dinner." She started to walk with her servants out the door.

"I can explain, your highness." Gabriella bit her lip to hold back more tears from falling. Not only did she get insulted by the queen but now she had to explain herself after she just got insulted as being some low life 'harlot'? Gabriella could feel her cheeks rising in temperature and her fist clenching together. She couldn't stand this. This new life of hers was a joke. How could people live like this? Smile to the public every day even though there was nothing to smile about and apologize for something she didn't even feel was wrong and then get insulted for being herself and living a young and carefree life. She felt so trapped within these walls, she couldn't breathe. All she wanted to do was be back in New York doing all those things she loved doing instead of being here, having to hide her tattoos, her past life, and maybe even hide a cigarette from these royal snobs.

Gabriella got up from her chair and grabbed the wine off the table with her as she made her way to the exit.

"Your highness, the wine—" One of the servants tried to stop Gabriella.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do." Gabriella turned around and glared at him until the servant silenced himself and looked down to the floor.

She stormed into her room to find Troy sitting on the sofa watching a movie and laughing. Gabriella swallowed back the urge to cry even more and set the wine down on the nightstand. She took the cork off of it and swung it up to her lips, she swallowed and swallowed and swallowed. All she wanted to do was forget. She wanted to forget she was tasting this expensive wine, living this lavish royal life, and doing these pointless royal things.

Troy looked up from the television screen and watched as Gabriella held the wine bottle to her lips for more than enough time to drink one fourth of the almost full bottle. He rushed over by her side and removed the bottle from her lips. "What are you doing?!" He could see her tear stained face and the smudged makeup as she blinked and another tear rolled down her face. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." She pushed him away as she looked to the other side. They were sitting on the edge of the bed and Troy was holding onto the wine bottle.

"Stop it." Troy held her shoulders and forced them to face him. "Something's wrong, you're crying and as a husband, it's my duty to at least find out why you're crying and drinking."

Gabriella bit onto her lip so hard she could almost taste the blood from her teeth drilling into the delicate skin. She reached out and took the wine bottle from him and drank more, tears still rolling down her face.

"Why are you being so dramatic?" He grabbed the bottle from her once again and put it down on the ground so she couldn't reach it. "What is wrong with you?"

"What is wrong with me? Is that what you're gonna ask? So many fucking things are wrong with me. In fact, you are always right. Your mother is always right and I'm just wrong in so many ways." She finally spoke out in a loud voice.

"What are you talking about?" Troy looked at her in confusion. Why was she being so angry all of a sudden? "What happened at dinner?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just leave me alone, you're not going to understand. You're one of them. You're just like your mother because nothing you ever do is wrong since you're born with royal blood but everything is my fault. It's my fault you even married me." She took off her heels and climbed into bed and under the covers. She didn't want to talk about it anymore. All she wanted to do was sleep. She wanted to vomit just talking to another royal person.

"What are you talking about?" Troy shook his head. "What the hell is going on? How much did you drink?"

She didn't respond. Instead she just brought the cover over her head as another tear drop rolled down her face. She closed her eyes waiting for sleep to just take her misery in. She hated being here, she hated being married to a Prince, she hated being judged every day. She could only hope her dreams would take her to the place where she truly wanted to be—not here for sure.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 06**

"Here are your room keys." The woman slid the card keys towards Chad as she smiled. "Enjoy your stay at the Hilton. We serve breakfast every day from six to ten thirty. We also have live entertainment and tours you can enroll in. The phone numbers and locations will be on this brochure." She grabbed a brochure from underneath the counter. "We hope you enjoy your stay here. Bora Bora welcomes the Crown Prince and Princess of Canovia."

Chad would be sharing a room with two other male body guards while Sharpay would be sharing a room with two other female bodyguards. The bodyguards and the two assistants walked behind the royal couple as they walked from the lobby counter towards the elevators.

The lobby was decorated elegantly with high ceilings and a large fountain in the middle of the hotel. There were also many paintings on the ceiling and on the walls that perfectly matched all the décor, giving it an extra luxurious feel to it. The bellhop wheeled the luggage next to Chad and Sharpay as Sharpay watched him closely. The last thing she wanted to deal with was the bellhop stealing bags or items out the luggage knowing Troy and Gabriella were the royal prince and princess of Canovia.

Troy was busy looking at the designs of the walls and the cleanliness and elegance of the hotel. He glanced over at Gabriella who still had her sunglasses on with her arms crossed. Although he couldn't see her eyes, he could tell she wasn't exactly impressed by the decorations like he was. The whole plane ride Gabriella remained pretty quiet. Ever since she fell asleep last night, she tried to avoid speaking to Troy and Troy tried his best to give her some space. The elevator dinged softly as they stepped inside and hit floor thirty. They would be staying at the top floor where the penthouse suite was located while Sharpay and Chad would be staying one floor down where two large suites would be located. The bellhop pushed the luggage cart into the room and set the bags down in their bedroom. After everything was set down, Sharpay casually slipped a twenty hundred dollar CFP Franc bill (which was equivalent to one hundred American dollars and one hundred Canovian dollars) to the bellhop before he dismissed himself out the door.

Troy walked over to Chad, who was standing next to Sharpay, while Gabriella walked outside to their balcony.

"Chad, I think Gabriella and I need some time alone. You and Sharpay should go for some lunch with the bodyguards." He handed him his credit card before patting him on the back in appreciation.

Chad understood the Prince's request and nodded. "Yes, sir." The two assistants and the bodyguards made their way out the door and shut it behind them quietly. Troy made his way out the sliding door of the balcony to find Gabriella puffing on a cigarette. He looked down on the chair behind here to find a pack of Parliament Lights.

Noticing his presence, she took a long drag before looking at him with a straight face. "What? You're gonna shoo everyone else so you can come out here and tell me not to smoke because it's going to set a bad example to Canovian teenage girls?"

"Nope." He reached down to grab the pack before taking a cigarette out of the almost empty pack. He lifted it up to his lips and lit it with the lighter that was sitting next to the cigarettes while taking his first drag.

Gabriella tapped on the cigarette to let the ash fall down while she spoke. "I didn't say you could have one."

He took another drag while he breathed out to the ocean view. "You didn't say I couldn't."

"If you do it, no one cares. You can do a drunken hit and run and people still love you because you have royal blood. People will pay taxes to let you have a vacation in this penthouse and smoke a bunch of cancer sticks." She rolled her eyes and crushed the now short and burning cigarette end into the ashtray on the glass table next to the chair.

"Excuse me?" Troy looked at her with his eyebrows raised.

"I said you did a drunken hit and run but I smoke a joint and people call me a junkie. Why don't they ever call you a murderer?" She looked up at him directly as she spoke those words slowly and intently, unknowingly hitting all the buttons of offense within Troy's emotions.

He bit down on his lip and looked directly at her with his cigarette burning in between his fingers. "I didn't kill anyone."

"Whatever." She tried walking past him to get back in doors but before she could step her foot inside again, he grabbed onto her wrist which caused her to look at him in confusion.

"I said I didn't kill anyone." He said in a serious tone.

Gabriella shook her wrist to get his hard grip loosened. She ignored his comment and turned back around as she walked into their bedroom.

Troy continued to stand outside by the balcony as he inhaled and exhaled through the burning cigarette. Was there some kind of book or eHow article that taught you how to deal with your wife who was the Crown Princess? Or how to tell her you were not a murderer? This was supposed to be their honeymoon not a penthouse suite for them to argue their way through the week.

* * *

The wine in his glass was untouched, the bread in the middle of the table was getting hard and cold. Troy sighed out in frustration. He made a reservation at one of the finest restaurant in Bora Bora for Gabriella and himself. He was really hoping she would at least show up even if they would argue their way through the dinner. He unlocked his iPhone before his fingers tapped on Gabriella's name in his messages. Last text sent, "I made a reservation at La Villa Manhana for tonight at 7. I want to talk to you and also I heard the French food there is amazing. So please come out the room and have dinner with me."

After their little conversation on the balcony, Gabriella basically locked herself in their bedroom all day while he walked on the beach with Chad and drank a little at the bar. He hoped that she would at least eat with him.

Thirty more minutes pass by and Gabriella was nowhere to be found. He let out a big long sigh as he finally sipped on the wine. The sour liquid traveled down to his empty stomach before he called the waiter over. "Just bring out the food, she's not coming."

The waiter nodded and hurried back into the kitchen to follow his order. Troy unlocked his phone once again and tapped on messages. He was about to tap on Gabriella's name to send her a message until he heard a familiar clicking of heels. He looked up to find a brown eyed blonde standing in front of him across the dining table.

"Good evening, your highness."

"Well hello, Sharpay. Where's my wife?" He asked her as he set his phone down.

Before Sharpay could answer, the waiter was back with the food. He set down a plate in front of Sharpay. "Pan-Seared Foie Gras."

And another waiter set down a dish in front of Troy. "And Piperade." He set down a dish of red sauce with a few eggs in it and some bread next to it.

"Enjoy, Mr. and Mrs. Bolton." The waiter walked his way back towards the kitchen to serve another order.

"Okay, I am not Mrs. Bolton." Sharpay muttered under her breath.

"Now can you answer my question, where's my wife?" Troy poked his fork inside the red sauce before bringing some up to his lips.

"Your highness, the Princess feels sick. She's been in bed and she wanted me to come here and tell you that she will not be showing up." Sharpay looked down at the dish in front of her. The aroma of the Foie Gras almost attacked her nose with every inhale. All she could think about was how much Gabriella must be missing out on this fine meal.

"Well she could just text me back and tell me that. Or maybe call me." Troy rolled his eyes. "You look like you want to just eat that up." He smirked at her as she tried to act like she didn't just stare at the food.

Sharpay tried to look away from those blue eyes but found herself stealing looks and glancing at Troy as he ate his food. She couldn't help but think about their first dinner date back when she was nineteen. He took her to the nicest restaurant in town and it was the very first time she went on a proper date with a proper man. She could still smell the marinara sauce of the penne chicken dish she ate. It was still fresh in her mind. Her heart suddenly started racing as she caught his eyebrow raise a little after a bite indicating his satisfaction with the taste.

"I know you're looking at me." Troy laughed a little as he looked up to look at Sharpay again. "Why don't you sit down?"

"Why?" She cleared her throat nervously.

"Well you're already here and these dishes are like three hundred Canovian dollars each. It would suck for them to go to waste. If my wife doesn't want to enjoy it, then someone else can." He shrugged as he continued to chow down on his food.

Sharpay looked around her to find couples speaking in French to each other under the dim and romantic lighting of the restaurant. She sighed and pulled out the chair in front of her to seat herself. She looked at the Foie Gras that was in front of her once more, this time closer to the height of her nose so the aroma was even more poignant. She slowly took the fork and knife into her hands and started cutting it to devour the expensive dish.

Troy looked at Sharpay as he chuckled more. It was just like their first date. "Is it good?"

"Delicious." Sharpay closed her eyes and sighed out in delight.

"I know. French is your favorite." He smiled at her before looking down at his food to eat more of it.

"No, Italian is… Troy." The blonde looked up from her food as they locked eyes.

Hearing his name in her familiar voice after all these years was foreign to him. As if he was in a dream or another planet. "Right." He sipped some of his wine as he set down his fork. "I think I'm full and you look like you're almost done with that from the speed you're eating."

Sharpay stuffed the last bit of meat into her mouth and sipped on the wine next to the dish. "That was delicious." She smiled at Troy as she stood up from her seat.

"Why are you standing up?"

"Well, I just finished eating so I'm going to head back to—"

"Don't tell me you need to head back to serve the Princess. It's nine thirty, you're off the clock now." He arched an eyebrow as he questioned her.

"Well I finished eating, your highness."

"Can you stop with that?" Troy shook his head in disappointment. "I mean, just call me Troy. We know each other. Why do you act so weird? I mean you're the one that left me and I'm over it, so why can't you get over that? If it doesn't kill you to work for my wife then it shouldn't kill you to act natural around me."

Sharpay swallowed nervously as she sat back down in her seat. She looked at Troy and nodded. "Alright, fine. Troy. Let's talk like normal acquainted people then."

Troy sipped on more of his wine and set it back down while he spoke. "Can I ask you a question that you could answer as my friend?"

"I never said we were friends."

"What happened between my mother and Gabriella? Why is she being so difficult all of a sudden? I mean she's always kind of difficult but ever since last night she's been extremely hard to deal with and she didn't even speak to me all day. We only argued once. There was just no communication whatsoever. It's so unlike her…"

"You're her husband, you need to ask her." She shrugged and sipped more of the wine.

"I mean I know I'm her husband but does she think that?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes and looked directly into Troy's eyes. "You can't become someone's husband overnight. I mean you put a ring on her finger but you can't expect her to love you instantly."

"I understand that point but I'm worried about her. I mean she didn't speak to me all day. She's usually talkative. She'll insult me but at least that's communication."

Sharpay bit down on her lip and sighed. Was this what she wanted in life? Consulting her only serious boyfriend in her life about his dysfunctional marriage? "Do you love her?"

"I want to."

He _wanted_ to love her. Those three words kept echoing in Sharpay's head. So he didn't love her yet but he wanted to try to love her. So did he still love the girl across from him right now? Sharpay Evans? "I hope you succeed."

Troy laughed at her weak response. "You hope I succeed? Wow that's not a response I expected. I was looking for some advice." He poured more wine into his own glass. "I'm just so sick of stressing out and worrying about Gabriella but she doesn't even care about what I do or who I am. Maybe I'm caging her. Maybe she would be happier if she never married me."

She nodded in silence as she listened. There was nothing she could say because she knew it was true. Gabriella would sometimes talk to her about her old life and how much she enjoyed being with her friends and making art. She had many crazy stories to tell her when they were sitting in the limo together commuting from one place to the other.

"I just feel like a failure. I mean I'm the Prince, I don't understand what more I can do for Gabriella to make her happy. For the past few weeks of our marriage, all we've done is make small talk or insulting statements except for maybe one day." He downed the alcohol in his glass before pouring himself another glass.

"Don't drink too much." She tried to stop him from pouring more wine into his own glass.

"All I want to do tonight is drink. I am so sick of thinking about Gabriella. I'm sick of thinking about her problems." He exhaled a deep breath after sipping on the wine.

Sharpay watched as he drank the alcohol, gulp after gulp. She took the bottle from his side and poured herself another glass as well. "Since you said we're friends now… I suppose a friend can drink with another friend to make sure he's not alone."

"I don't even want to go back to my room. Gabriella doesn't even want to see me so why do I even care to try to care." He snapped his fingers in the air as the waiter arrived seconds after. "Get me two more bottles of this fine wine and also the check."

"Two more bottles?" Sharpay gasped in shock. "Are you serious? All by yourself?"

"You're the one that said you would drink with a friend. Let's find a spot on the beach and drink. We can't go back until we finish two bottles." Troy smirked at the blonde across the table. "Deal?"

She sighed and nodded while smiling back at Troy. It was nice to be friendly and civil with him. "Deal."

* * *

Gabriella sat up in her bed as she sipped some water out of the glass Sharpay set by her nightstand earlier. She asked her to tell Troy that she was sick. She was indeed sick but not physically. She was emotionally sick from all this royal bullshit. She grabbed the remote that was placed next to the glass of water and flipped on a random French channel.

12:33AM was what the digital clock on the nightstand read. Where was her husband? She jumped off the bed and looked around the entire penthouse only to find nothing but herself. She unlocked her iPhone that was charging by the wall and tapped on Troy's name in her messages. _"Where are you?"_ She typed.

1:46AM. And there wasn't a response from her husband. Gabriella was now laying in her bed again. She desperately tried to sleep but realized she couldn't. What if Troy was in a ditch somewhere? They were in a foreign county and they didn't even speak French. She grabbed her phone again to dial his number and only for it to go straight to voice mail. His phone was either out of battery or manually turned off. What more could she do? "Fuck him. Fuck Troy Bolton. Fuck everything." She sighed out in frustration before she shut her eyes. She couldn't lose sleep over that rotten husband of hers.

Although her eyes were shut, her mind couldn't be switched off. Why was Troy Bolton making her feel so worried? Yes, he was her husband legally but since when did she really care about his whereabouts? Maybe it would be better if he never came back, then she could go back home and back to New York and live that life she wanted to go back to. All this royal bullshit was driving her mad. One second, she hated talking to Troy Bolton and wanted to vomit just thinking about all of the things the Queen said to her but then the next moment she was losing sleep because of Troy Bolton and these royal problems.

The sleepless night went on as Gabriella finally gave up in the fight to sleep. She turned on the lights and started to read a book to calm her down. She opened her hardback copy of Jane Eyre and started to read the chapter where she left off. She read this book at least four times already. The first time she read this book, she was fifteen and ever since, she marked this classic as her favorite book in the entire world. Usually this book kept her calm and collected whenever she felt angsty or nervous.

One page after another, the sun light started to creep through the large glass windows and the view of the blue ocean pierced through the glass, distracting Gabriella from her book. The ocean was so calm and blue and just beautiful. How would it feel to run into the water and just feel the sun on her face? She snapped out of her little daydream as she looked at her phone again. 6:00AM. She called Troy one more time but getting no answer once again. She swiped her fingers to another name on her phone—Chad Danforth.

"Hello?" A familiar but sleepy voice spoke through the phone.

"Chad? Have you seen Troy?" Gabriella was relieved to hear a familiar voice and relieved to know that she had someone to help her locate her husband.

Chad's voice immediately became more proper as he heard the Princess's voice on the other end of the line. "Your highness, I thought you two ate together last night? I made a reservation for the Prince at La Villa Manhana."

"No. I never went and he never came back last night."

"The Prince never came home?" Gabriella could hear the shock and worry in Chad's voice. "Have you tried calling him and everything, your highness?"

"I did but—" Before Gabriella could finish her response, she heard the front door open and shut and familiar footsteps approaching her bedroom. It wasn't long until her husband was in front of her. His hair was messy and his eyes seemed tired possibly also from lack of sleep. He rubbed the back of his neck as he yawned and set his suit jacket down by foot of the bed. "Nevermind, found him." Gabriella hit the end call button as quickly as she can before she looked at Troy. "Where have you been?"

"I was just on the beach. I drank a little and ate breakfast after watching the sunrise." He answered truthfully. He did all of that except with a friend… who happened to be her assistant and his ex-girlfriend.

"By yourself?" Gabriella scoffed.

"Look why do you care?" Troy loosened his tie from the suit he wore to the expensive restaurant last night.

"Because you're my husband? I mean can you at least tell me in advance you might not come home? I'm your wife here." Gabriella crossed her arms as she spoke.

"Really? I'm your husband? I don't think I've notice until now from the way you ignore me and call me a murderer." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as well.

"Hello are you blind?" Gabriella fanned her left hand by her face and pointed to the blue diamond on her ring finger. "I'm pretty sure a few weeks ago you put this blessed diamond ring on my finger."

"Oh really now, you know you can take that thing off any time you feel like it." He looked away from her and grabbed his suit to hang it up in the closet in their room.

Gabriella couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was completely unlike the Troy Bolton she married a few weeks ago. What had gotten into him? "So you're saying you want a divorce after just three weeks of marriage?"

"I don't care." He untied his blue tie and hung it on one of the hangers, his back still facing his wife who was sitting up on the bed.

"Fine!" Gabriella violently removed the ring from her ring finger and threw it at the back of his head. "Take it back and return it or sell it. I don't care either."

Troy turned around as the small ring hit the back of his neck and landed next to his shoes.

She jumped out of bed in her lacy short shorts and a grey bralette that held her dainty breasts in place and hugged her curves just above her midriff. Her messy curls bounced on her shoulders and cascaded down her back and ending right at her small waist. Her tattoo of a beautiful peony flower displayed freely on her right thigh while the small daisy the size of a quarter was also on display on the lower part of her upper arm. Troy could swear he had never seen such an intimidating yet delicate woman in his life. Her short height of only 5'2" only made it even more contradictory.

"Are you being serious right now?" Troy crossed his arms again and looked at her in disbelief. He chuckled at her outburst. "You really want to divorce after just twenty something days of marriage?"

"You don't see me as your wife anyway. You didn't bother to tell me you didn't want to come home and then when you actually come home, you're asking for divorce." It felt so good to finally let out the thing that stressed her out all night.

"Excuse me don't blame me for not being a husband when you ignore me half of the time and call me things like a murderer and everything that comes out of your mouth about me seems to be completely negative." He retorted. "Not only that, you also have a habit of kicking me off of our bed which eventually forced me to sleep on the couch. If anything, you don't act like a wife."

Their voices grew louder and louder with each remark. They were so focused onto each other that if the ceiling started breaking and falling on them right now, they would rather die than let the other person have the last word.

"Oh please, it was my first night in a new bed with a new person in a new room. I had a bad dream and moved which probably caused you to fall off the bed. You've got to be kidding me if you're still stuck on that incident from our first night together." Gabriella shook her head and laughed at his pathetic excuse.

"So everything is about you. You're so fucking spoiled and hard to talk to. Everything is about you and whoever makes you upset is guilty of every fucking crime ever committed in Canovia." Troy walked up closer to Gabriella and lessened their distance from a foot to inches.

"I'm spoiled? Excuse me but I'm the one that sacrificed my whole life to marry you and save my parent's company."

"See? It's about you again!" They were now only centimeters apart and Gabriella could feel his breath on the tip of her nose as he spoke loudly.

"Yes, it's about me and so is this conversation. It's about me not being able to sleep because I was worried about you. I hated feeling like some stupid damsel in distress!" She clenched her fists together as she let out a breath. "You're so inconsiderate."

"You couldn't sleep?" He scoffed and chuckled at her statement as he rolled his eyes. She had to be joking. How could this conceited and spoiled and self-centered wife of his ever care about another human being more than her own beauty sleep? "You were worried about me?"

"I really was." She bit down on her lip as she spoke these words softly. Unlike their argument a few seconds ago, her voice was now lowered and sincere. She looked up at his tired eyes and then back down at the millimeters of space between their bodies. Her back was supported by the edge of the bed to keep her from almost falling.

He looked into her eyes and then down at her plump lips and then away again. He turned his head towards the left to catch a breath after seeing her lips so plump and close to his.

Gabriella licked her lips nervously before snaking her arms up his neck and then up his untamed hair. God, he was so beautiful. How could she possibly feel like she wanted to vomit just talking to him but then want to just devour him completely? Her fingers ran through the short strands of his usually gelled but now messy hairs on the back of his head and slowly up and around to his cheeks which caused his head to turn back to look directly into her eyes.

She inched her head closer and closer until their lips touched. Their eyes shut as the distance between them became too close for him to bear. His hands slipped up to her waist as he gripped them tightly. Her lips pressed against his so softly the moment she pushed his head in gently. Her upper lip brushed between his lips and she sucked gently on his bottom lip before he dipped his head down lower to catch her next kiss full onto his lips. He tilted his head slightly signaling for her mouth to open wider.

She could hear her heart beat getting louder and louder until she could even hear the pastor's voice in her head, _'You may now kiss the bride.'_ It repeated over and over again in her head as she drowned herself deeper in the kiss. This was unlike their first kiss but everything like a first kiss between two people that actually cared about each other.

Troy's hands traveled up to her back and under her bralette. He opened his mouth wider as an invitation for her tongue to finally meet his. He let out a soft groan while her tongue grazed his and the corners of his mouth. His right hand slowly grazed over the skin under her garment and over the nipple of her petite left breast. She let out a soft moan while his hands squeezed her breast that fit perfectly into the palm of his hand. He broke away from their soft yet sensual kiss to trail kisses down her chin and finally to her neck. He nipped softly at her neck while her eyes were still shut and her mind flooded with pleasurable thoughts.

His hands traveled back down to the back of her waist before he pressed himself closer to her. His grip was tight on her to keep their distance close.

She gasped when she felt his groin right on her front beneath her belly button jewelry. His lips trailed back up to her lips while he placed one soft kiss before pulling away slowly. Her lips reluctantly parted away from his while her eyes opened to find his blue orbs staring right back her.

He broke the silence finally as he smirked. "Was that part of my husbandly duties or your wifely duties?" He straightened his clothes out before making his way towards the bathroom. He turned on the light and shut the door behind him as he left her standing there, recovering from their breathtaking kiss.

She touched her lips lightly as she fell back onto the bed with her hand over her face. Kissing him was just too easy. It all felt too natural and too accessible but yet she could feel disgusted by her weakness. She shouldn't even feel this way. He was her husband… of course they should kiss and of course they should argue. Why did it feel so damn forbidden at the moment?

* * *

 _ **Sorry (or woohoo!) this chapter is soooo long compared to the others. I just really wanted to put all of this in one chapter instead of cutting it in the middle and dragging it out. By the way, 'Canovian dollars' are really just the same value as US dollars. I don't want to complicate things by making a completely new exchange rate for a completely fictional country so keep in mind when I write 100 Canovian dollars, it is just as much as 100 American dollars. But the CFP Franc is actually the real currency used in French Polynesia since French Polynesia is a real country. Hopefully, I didn't offend anyone with my lack of knowledge in French food. I literally picked out dishes from a top 20 French dishes list article lol. Please let me know what you thought in the reviews! Thanks for reading!**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 07**

The constant vibration of Troy's iPhone sent disruptions to his sleep. Troy's eyes slowly opened and his hand reached out to his phone to unlock the screen with his fingerprint to find a message from Sharpay. "Thanks for an awesome night. I had a great time." He couldn't help but feel like he just received a message from Sharpay after their first date… their first date at that small Italian restaurant with her favorite Eggplant Parmesan. And after that night, he received a similar text from her and he smiled to himself like an idiot in his dorm room.

But that was years ago and now it was different. He set down his phone and looked around the room while he sat up from the bed. Gabriella was nowhere to be found but he could hear sounds and a fresh scent of garlic and vegetables coming from around the living room. He stood up by the side of his bed and walked out of the bedroom with nothing but his boxers on. Following the smell, he looked towards the kitchen and found Gabriella in those lacy shorts she was wearing earlier, the same grey bralette and her curls now clipped up in a loose bun. Her hands were busy grating cheese and the pot was steaming on top of the stove. Troy smiled to himself as he watched her dump the vegetables into the pot and hum quietly to herself.

This was the view he wanted to see every day. He wanted to kiss his wife the way they did a few hours ago and wake up to the smell of home and a beautiful wife walking around in her underwear. He didn't care if she cooked well, he wasn't exactly a traditional man. He just wanted to wake up to see his wife doing things that made her happy and he knew as a husband, that would make him happy.

On the floor above the two newlyweds was a blond that sat in her bed a mess. The bodyguards and Chad all went out for dinner since Troy and Gabriella hadn't called for them all day. Chad did briefly mention to her about the Prince going missing and of course Sharpay acted like she didn't know about any of this. She brought a hand up to her face to itch the bags under her eyes. She was exhausted from her lack of sleep last night but also couldn't be tired because she didn't want to raise any suspicions. She looked down at her phone to see that Troy had read her message five minutes ago but has yet to respond. Maybe last night meant something different for him than it did to her? She threw her phone to the side of her pillow and laid down in her bed while she closed her eyes, holding onto what happened last night in her thoughts.

" _This spot right here's nice. Maybe we could even see the sunset." Troy smiled at the blonde as he set down the two bottles of opened wines. He grabbed one of the bottles and gulped down a few large sips before setting it down on the sand again and looking over at Sharpay._

 _She looked out into the dark ocean with a smile and then back at Troy as they both sat down on the sand. His eyes were so extremely blue even in the dark. She used to love them so much. She used to look into those eyes and run her hands in his hair and whisper things into his ear while he chuckled and kissed her forehead. Sharpay would be lying if she said she didn't miss those days at all. She did. She missed Troy. She missed their good times together, she missed the times when someone was there for her and was adventurous just like her._

" _You're so different now." Troy looked at her again and then back out at the dark waves. "You're so mature and I feel like I'm still stuck here."_

" _What do you mean?" She chuckled while smiling at him. "You've grown a lot as a person. I mean, you're… married now." She looked away. It was something in her eyes that she knew would give it away. A part of her always reminded herself that she would be loyal to the princess and should have no other thoughts because Troy was married now. It was hard sometimes to fight these thoughts, but she knew that she had to stop them. She was the one who left him years ago, so there was no going back now. She made a choice and he moved on with his life._

" _Yeah… I don't even want to think about my marriage right now." Troy drank a little more of his wine as he spoke. "It's driving me mad. Gabriella is just a handful. She blames me for everything, sometimes I don't even know what she's talking about."_

" _Hey… cut her a break. She's a sweet girl and a good woman." Sharpay drank out of her bottle while hugging her legs to her chest. Her work trousers now covered in sand._

" _I know but… have you ever wondered what it would be like if we got married instead? Would you be like Gabriella? Would you be a pain in the ass?" He turned to look straight into the blonde's eyes. "I mean, I loved you and we had so much in common."_

 _He loved her. Loved. Past Tense. Sharpay chuckled nervously and licked her lips before speaking again. "Who knows? Maybe we'd divorce?"_

" _I don't think so. I think we were like peanut butter and jelly. We were inseparable."_

 _They both stopped to laugh at his corny comparison. That's what she loved about the two of them. They always laughed at the right moments and said the right things to each other. "You really think so?"_

" _Yeah… if things went well back then, I think I would have asked you to marry me. I was really considering it the last year we were still together to be honest." The sour taste of the wine hit the back of his throat again as he took another swig at it. "But I guess now it's different."_

" _Right…" Her eyes followed the every curve of his face from his tall nose bridge to his defined eyebrows down to his lips where words escaped._

The rest of the night went by with small talk and little mentions of the past. Sharpay tried her hardest not to dwell on anything he mentioned casually. He seemed so far away from her. Whenever he talked about the two of them, it was like another dimension that now ceased to exist. Troy eventually laid down on the sand and started to doze off a little from the wine and lack of sleep.

When the sun came out, Troy offered to treat her to a breakfast in appreciation for the night of chatting.

He needed it. He needed a friend to talk to. He needed someone to understand him and also someone who understood Gabriella. He needed someone to talk to where he didn't have to hold back anything and to have someone like Sharpay help him was incredible and he owed her so much more than just a breakfast but what could he do? That was what friends were for. Friends listen to each other and owe each other 'big time' but really just repay each other in small favors and chats.

Troy smiled to himself as he thought about last night and the chat he had with Sharpay. It was nice to finally have a friend again. And by talking to Sharpay, he realized that Gabriella may not be that hard to crack. He was just lacking in some care and some genuine understanding. As Troy returned his gaze on Gabriella's cooking in the kitchen, he locked onto his target and walked towards the brunette. He only had one other serious relationship in his life and that would be with Sharpay. Gabriella was completely different. Her mood was temperamental and everything between them was unpredictable. Troy and Sharpay had an overall smooth relationship since the beginning. He met her through his friends and thought she was absolutely stunning. He was drawn to her and wanted to get to know her better. And traditionally, you would ask the girl out on a date in which he did just that. They were crazy about each other since the beginning.

He walked up behind Gabriella and leaned down against the back of her ear. "What are you making?"

"Shit!" She jerked forward in surprise causing her to almost knock the pot over in front of her. "Shit, Troy. You scared me." She turned around and held her hand against her chest.

He chuckled softly and tilted his head to look over her shoulder. "What is that?" He eyed the orangy brown sauce that was boiling in the pot with vegetables and some meat peeking through the thick stew. The aroma of onions and peppers almost stung Troy's nose but smelled deliciously pleasant at the same time.

Gabriella turned back around to add two perfectly measured tablespoons of sugar into the pot. "Carbonada Criolla."

"What?" Troy chuckled at the words she spoke. Her voice sounded different and smooth as a foreign language rolled off her tongue as if she spoke the language all her life. He continued to peak over her shoulders to get another scent of the food.

"I went out to buy some stuff when you were sleeping and decided to make Carbonada Criolla. It's my favorite dish. My grandmother used to make it for me." She smiled at herself as she thought of the memories of when her grandmother's cooking. She was a woman of many kitchen skills and it always fascinated Gabriella who was taught to be more business and education oriented. Her mother never let her lift a finger at home. There were servants for everything in her house and her mother once even scolded her for vacuuming her own room. One of the only things her mother gladly let her do even though it was considered a servant's job was cooking. Carbonada Criolla was a dish that none of the servants in her house could ever cook right. The only other person who knew how to make it exactly the way she liked it besides herself was her grandmother who lived in the countryside in Canovia.

"Is it like… Spanish?" Troy had been to many countries before to represent Canovia at different events. He had the luxury to travel to Spain for a week where he spent the weekend in Barcelona and even watched a tradutuibal bullfight. He knew what Spanish sounded like. Every time he visited a country, he would spend some time learning about their customs and simple greetings in their language to avoid any offensive behaviors and sayings. He knew Gabriella spoke Spanish when she said the name of the dish.

"Nope. It's Argentinian." Gabriella threw a squash into the stew before stirring it a little again.

Troy nodded as she looked down onto her dark hair. The messy bun had little curls falling out of it draping down her shoulders. And from her shoulders, his eyes followed the curve of her bare waist. His hands slowly extended out to wrap around her dainty waist while resting his head on top of her shoulder lightly.

"What are you doing…" Gabriela could feel her body tense up as soon as his arms wrapped around her waist and over her belly button. She breathed out slowly while her eyes closed and open again to feel his head resting on her shoulder and his chin just above the thin strap of her bralette. She flinched a little from the heat of his body against her back and tried to wiggle out of his grip. She could feel her heart racing in her ear and her cheeks getting flushed just like a teenage girl getting touched for the first time.

"Stop moving." His voice was muffled from his lips brushing against the bare skin on her shoulder while his eyes were closed, enjoying the scent of the food in front of them and her smooth skin against his.

"No, get off of me." She squirmed around his arms in an attempt to break free from his grip but he only hugged her tighter. Her body started to relax against his now firmer hold. She hated herself for liking his touch and wanting to kiss him. She hated that he knew she wanted to be touched. "Troy…?"

"Yeah?" He opened his eyes while placing a soft kiss on her shoulder that lingered seconds afterwards. His lips felt hot from pressing up against her smooth skin.

"Are you allergic to onions?" She laughed softly after asking.

His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as a smile crept up his lips. "That's a silly question."

"Answer it!" She turned her body around when his grip loosened but his hands were still around her waist but now his hand was placed on her lower back and her arms were wrapped around his neck as they faced each other. Her laughing smile faded to a serious face as she demanded him to answer her random inquiry.

"Okay okay…" He sighed and chuckled softly. "No I am not."

"What about green peppers?"

"No…" He shook his head.

"Yellow squash?"

"What? No." Troy shook his head once more. These all seemed like such strange questions to ask out of the blue. He looked at her with his eyebrow arched questioned her back. "Any more questions?"

She shook her head and smiled at him. "Good, because I want you to try my cooking and those are the major ingredients in the Carbonada Criolla."

Gabriella turned her body back around to check on the stew. She carefully removed the lid on the pot and sniffed the aroma of the hot stew before leaving his arms to grab a ladle from the top cabinet. The aroma of the garlic and peppers and beef bursted out of the pot and into the air of the enclosed hotel suite. She lowered the ladle into the soup and scooped out just enough for a bowl.

Troy watched his wife as she took one of the two spoons on the granite counter top to taste her own cooking from the bowl she scooped for herself. She closed her eyes while the corner of her mouth lifted into a satisfied smile. "Delicious." Her eyes fluttered open to meet the blue orbs staring right back at her.

He grabbed the spoon on the counter and dipped it into the stew to pick up the soupy content and a piece of beef. The spoon was hot from the temperature of the recently prepared food. He brought the food up between his lips and slowly tasted the flavorful dish in delight. "I love this." He dipped his spoon back into the bowl for more.

"I'm glad you like it." Gabriella also dipped her spoon in to help herself for more of the Argentinian beef stew.

"Is your mom Argentinian?" He asked after chewing on a piece of beef and some peppers.

"Yeah. Although she's Argentinian, she's actually lived in Canovia all her life. My grandparents immigrated here when they were teenagers."

"What about your dad?"

Gabriella scooped more of the stew to chew on a piece of corn. "He's like everything. He's mostly Filipino and Spanish but also mixed in with some Irish and English. But he too has lived here for a long time. All I know is that my great great great great grandfather was probably the Spanish one hence Montez as my last name. My dad and his family lived in Canovia all their lives and for as many generations back I know." She scooped out a little piece of squash and some beef.

"That's really interesting. I wish I was diverse in my background like that. All I know is that I'm white and Canovian." Sighing, he shrugged while thinking about his family history. The royal family liked their bloodline pure. Everyone was Canovian and as far as he knew from history textbooks, Canovians were originally English and French settlers.

"You probably know your generations map clearer than anyone in Canovia." Gabriella rolled her eyes and laughed a little. They learned about the royal family in grade school and the history of Canovia included a brief but long description of the royal bloodlines. In high school, they learned more about the power transfers and various Kings that were dethroned. "I know I learned about it in high school during Canovian History class."

"I know. And you know, you're going to be in those history books."

"Right… as your wife." She looked down at the bowl of stew she was holding and scooped another spoonful of food.

"No… as the Crown Princess of Canovia." Using his spoon to scoop more of the stew, he brought the spoonful of the soupy content up to Gabriella's lips. She gladly accepts his gesture and chews on the beef he fed her.

"That's not I wanted… you know." Gabriella said quietly as the mood in the room started to sour. Troy's smile slipped from his lips. "I wanted other things. I was doing other things and it all got turned around overnight." Her bottom lip trembled as her eyes became glazed with a thin layer of tears. She looked away from Troy and lightly dabbed her eyes with her finger.

"What do you mean?" He looked at the woman in front of him who couldn't even look at him when he mentioned her title as Crown Princess. Did she hate being Crown Princess this much? Did she resent it so much she had to cry just thinking about what she became after their marriage?

"I was doing really well in New York City with my freelance work. I even got an offer to make modern art for an interior designing company that helps design luxury condos that sold for millions of American dollars." She wiped a falling tear drop from her right eye as she laughed it off casually. She leaned on the counter behind her and sighed again now with her eyes looking directly into his. "I thought for once I could do something for myself. I wanted to chase after my passion of visual art before returning home one day to manage the company. My career meant a lot to me but I know my father's company also means a lot so I guess I chose someone else's passion over my own and now I'm here."

Her brown eyes were glazed with more tears when she spoke those words softly. People always say it's not what you say but how you say it that truly matters. And in that moment Troy believed the tears in her eyes when she opened up to him about her life before the royal marriage carried more meaning than the soft tone in her voice. His words were stuck in his throat, unable to be pushed out. He lost the words pushed within his throats the moment he wanted to make a sound. There was nothing he could say because there was nothing he could say to change the fact that she chose to marry him.

"I didn't have a choice really. I shouldn't even say I chose anything. If I didn't marry you, my father would lose the company and I would lose my career as well. My parents financed for everything when I was overseas. I guess you could say I'm too dependent on my parents' wealth to provide for myself and because of that I knew I didn't have a choice. I was too used to luxury. I chose a financially stable life over a life to fulfill my passion." She tried to shrug off the serious air between them as she let out a fake laugh and a fake smile.

 _Did I also choose Gabriella for stability?_ Troy thought to himself. The tabloids and the people of Canovia were constantly writing about his 'unroyal' behavior. He gave up the life of partying with a different girl every night and drinking his life away one liquor shot at a time for marriage. He gave those things up to keep his title as the Crown Prince. And he chose marriage to keep his parents happy. He chose marriage to avoid being sent overseas again where he would just be reminded of all the good times he spent with Sharpay and the fact that she wouldn't be with him anymore. He chose marriage because it provided him with the most security and stability. Was it so wrong to choose social stability over something exciting and satisfying?

He watched as the girl in front of him wiped more tears off of her face. How much happier was Gabriella when she was making art she enjoyed?

"Sorry, excuse me."Gabriella turned the other way and excused herself to their room as more tears came rolling down her face. She shut and locked the door behind her leaving Troy out in the kitchen. The tears weren't from the pain of having no choice but from the pain of having to let Troy know. She was now vulnerable. She opened up to him and it frightened her how he would process what she said. Just twenty four hours ago, she resented the way her husband could basically do whatever he wanted and still get away with it but now she was crying over something she told him. This was what frightened her, the fact that their relationship turned zero to three sixty in less than twenty four hours. She was frightened of how easily she could cry just talking to him and how easily she could forget about everything and start kissing him the next second.

This was going to be one hell of a honeymoon.

* * *

 _ **Sorry for the wait guys! I've been super busy recently. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you thought in the reviews :) Thanks for reading!**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 08**

The microwave beeped as Troy grabbed the hot bowl out of the machine and on the kitchen counter. The garlic aroma of the stew filled the kitchen once again while he dipped his spoon in and devoured a spoon full. He let the savory taste of the beef sit inside of his mouth. The stew tasted so much better last night than it did now when he was by himself in the kitchen eating leftover stew for lunch.

The door to their bedroom was locked but he could hear the shower running even from the kitchen. He finished up the stew quickly to satisfy his hunger before grabbing himself a glass of water. As soon as he finished his first sip of the water, there was a knock on the door. He walked towards the door with his glass of water and twisted the doorknob to open, expecting it to be maid service or a bodyguard. Instead, he was greeted with a smiling Sharpay who stepped inside the suite in her usual sleek long pony tail, thick heeled pumps, black trousers, and a black blazer. "Good morning, your highness."

"Good morning, Shar." He set down the glass of water and looked behind her to find no one else. "Where is Chad?"

"Oh he didn't come. The Princess called for me but you didn't call for Chad. So that's why I'm here." She explained. "May I take a seat while I wait for the Princess, your highness?"

Troy chuckled at her formal usage of words and motioned for her to sit on the couch. "Do whatever you please." He couldn't stand it whenever Sharpay used formal language towards him. It just seemed so unnatural. They were friends again so why couldn't she just be natural whenever no one else was around. He had enough people addressing him by all sorts of royal honorifics, the last thing he needed was to hear it from someone who he used to date.

Gabriella opened the door to their bedroom while wearing a pair of aviators and a white sundress with straps of her red bikini peeking through. Her flip flops were black and a sunhat sat snugly on her head above the dark cascading curls. "I'm ready to go." She smiled at Sharpay and grabbed her beach bag.

When Gabriella grabbed the beach bag from the couch, it brought attention towards her hands and at the absence of her blue diamond wedding ring. Sharpay stared at her fourth finger while her thoughts were racing with curiosity. Why wasn't she wearing her wedding ring? Did something happen between the couple?

"Where are you guys going…?" Troy looked at his wife in confusion. Last time he saw his wife was last night after tasting her stew. She locked herself inside the bedroom ever since she excused herself from him. He didn't know if he should expect her to be happy or upset or back to hating him after she walked out of that door.

"The beach, your highness." Pulling her attention away from Gabriella's ring finger, Sharpay answered while she stood up and walked towards Gabriella.

"Am I invited or should I just sit here and watch a movie by myself while I wait for my wife to frolic on the beach without me during our honeymoon?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and to his surprise, flashed him a smile. "You may invite yourself."

"I'll meet you guys down there." He walked inside their bedroom to start getting changed.

"Alright!" Gabriella answered before opening the door and shutting it behind her while the girls exited the suite.

Troy grabbed his boxers from his suitcase and pulled off his boxers before putting them on. He was wearing a plain white shirt that dipped in a subtle V-neck. His sunglasses were resting above his nightstand before he reached out to grab them. He started to make his way out the door of their bedroom when he could feel a small arch in the middle of his flip flops. Troy moved his feet and looked down to find the wedding ring Gabriella threw at him two nights ago. He laughed a little as he picked it up and placed it in his pocket.

* * *

Sharpay sat down in the beach chair and underneath the shield of the umbrella above her head. She watched as Gabriella rubbed sunscreen on her body in the chair next to hers. The brunette was so vibrant and seemed so happy. She was happier than she was two days ago when she was clearly upset and quiet the whole plane ride. But Sharpay couldn't help but notice the absence of her wedding ring. Was she especially happy because Troy decided to separate from Gabriella? What was going on?

Chad, while holding a cooler, carefully walked on the sand until he approached the two women who were sitting underneath an umbrella. He smiled towards Gabriella as he greeted the Princess. "Good afternoon, your royal highness."

"Good afternoon, Chad." She smiled back and motioned for him to sit in her chair after she stood up from her seat.

"Your highness, thank you but I can stand."

Before Gabriella could protest, her husband walks up behind Chad and then over to Gabriella while he pulled her towards him. "Go ahead and sit, Chad. I'm going to talk with Gabriella for a moment."

Gabriella looked at her husband with a puzzled expression as he pulled her towards him and away from their assistants. She still had her sunscreen in her hand and a little bit of the lotion unrubbed right above her navel. "What is it?"

Instead of answering her question, Troy dipped his hand into his pocket to pull out the familiar blue diamond ring. He grabbed onto her free left hand and placed it underneath his own. Using his other hand that was grabbing the ring when he slid the blue diamond ring back onto her ring finger. "Don't ever think about taking it off again."

Gabriella looked down at the sunlight which shined on the diamond ring. It seemed to fit even better than the first time he slid it onto her finger, her lips curved into a smile while she looked up at Troy. "I want to apologize for locking you out of your room last night."

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yes. Much better. It just felt scary for me to think of all those things I told you last night." Gabriella sighed. "But I'm better today. Thanks for… understanding." She smiled up at him before starting to walk back towards Sharpay and Chad.

He followed behind her to return to their assistants. Chad immediately stood up from his seat again as Gabriella walked back under the umbrella. She chuckled and shook her head. "Chad, you don't have to give me back the seat. I'm going to go lie down and tan anyway. But thanks."

"My pleasure, your highness." Chad carefully sat back down on the beach chair and pointed to the cooler he set down between the two chairs. "There are drinks in the cooler for you, your highness."

"You and Sharpay should have a drink. I'm going to lie out for a bit." She grinned at Chad while she lied down on the blanket Sharpay put down earlier. Gabriella's sunglasses sat right on the bridge of her nose while her hair fell past her shoulders in messy undone curls. Her red triangle bikini cupped her breasts perfectly to show a little cleavage. As she lied down with her face up at the sky, Troy grabbed a book from her beach bag and sat next to his wife in front of the two beach chairs. "You like Jane Eyre?" He brushed his fingers on top of the hardcover book.

"It's my favorite book."

"I like Ernest Hemingway." He looked over at Gabriella whose eyes were closed and her body glistening underneath the ultraviolet rays.

"Jane Eyre is not by Hemingway." She lowered her aviators and rolled her eyes at him.

"I know that. I'm not stupid." Troy explained. "I'm just saying I like Hemingway the most _. The Sun Also Rises_."

"I like that book too." Gabriella sat up from her blanket and reached over to her husband to grab her favorite book from him. "I didn't know you read literature."

"I was an English minor when I was attending university, you know…"

"Really?" Gabriella's eyes traveled up to his eyes. Her eyes hid underneath her sunglasses but she could tell he was staring right back at her. Her eyes scanned the top of his nose down to his lips and down to his torso which was still covered by a white t-shirt. She looked up back to his lips to watch every movement—the way he lightly licked his bottom lip and the way he bit down on it every once in a while.

"Really. I loved it but I majored in Business and Finance. I always wanted to own a business of some sort." He looked away from Gabriella and out at the waves of the blue ocean. "But photography is my passion."

"Well that's something." She looked out into the waves as she felt beads of sweat down her forehead. The sun was tanning her skin alright but naturally causing her throat to feel dry and her mouth to feel dehydrated. Gabriella turned around to find Sharpay sitting under the umbrella with her phone in hand to take pictures of the beautiful shore. "Can you grab me a beer, Sharpay?" She asked as she reached her hand out to grab it from her. The cooler was resting between Chad and Sharpay's chairs and a little bit of a reach for Gabriella.

"Yes, your highness." Sharpay smiled at the Princess and dipped her hands into the ice box to find a glass bottle. She took it in her hands and found the bottle opener in the beach bag to pop the bottle cap off. When Gabriella's hand reached out to take the bottle of Stella Artois from Sharpay, the blue diamond shined against the bright sun. Sharpay found herself staring at her finger again. She could have sworn the ring wasn't there a few minutes ago.

"Thanks." The brunette took the drink from her assistant with a smile on her face. She laid her body down on the blanket again to soak in the sun after taking a long sip of the bitter alcohol.

The hot sun was hitting the skin of her body and she closed her eyes in delight. Her tense body relaxed against the summer heat and against the soft blanket underneath her.

Troy watched as the skin around Gabriella's red bikini top formed beads of sweat and her body almost glistened underneath the sun. Her skin was kissed by the sun and he could feel his own sweat seeping through his white t-shirt. He looked back to find Sharpay and Chad having a conversation with some laughs. Once again, he couldn't stop himself from looking back down at his wife whose body laid right there next to him with little beads of sweat on the smooth soft skin. He dared to reach out his hand and slowly draw an invisible line down the side of her arm. He smiled again at the sight. Gabriella didn't move at all. Not even after he touched her. She was happily asleep under the warm sunlight.

Come to find out, Chad was truly an expert on different alcoholic beverages and mixes. He had been going on and on about all the different wines the Prince liked and all the ones he liked. Sharpay learned that Chad starting working for the Prince after his return from college. The old assistant was fired by the Queen because he apparently encouraged bad behavior which caused scandal after scandal for the Prince. Sharpay was listening closely to Chad's rambling until she caught Troy's attention on Gabriella. He was smiling to himself as he touched the side of her arm. And she knew right then and there, that night meant nothing. When he said he was over her, she would be better off believing it. He didn't look at her the same way anymore, he looked at Gabriella the way she wanted him to look at her again.

But who was it to blame anyway? She decided to let him go and she was now working for his wife. What was she really expecting?

Sharpay tried her hardest to listen to Chad talk more about various foods and wines he liked from the palace before Troy got up and cut Chad's rambling short.

"Chad, I'm going back up to my room. I'm going to give my mom a call."

"Yes, sir." Chad immediately got up from his chair.

"Gabriella's asleep, so don't forget to wake her up in a few minutes or else she's going to get a sunburn." He said to Sharpay.

"No problem, your highness." Sharpay nodded at Troy. He didn't even look at her. This was a request from a leader to a subordinate, an employer to an employee. Troy didn't even think to address her by her name. It was an order—a caring gesture for his wife.

Chad and Troy were already walking towards the back where the hotel was, leaving Sharpay and Gabriella behind. Troy needed to talk to his mother and find out what she said to Gabriella at dinner that night. Although Gabriella seemed to be over it, it was still bugging him how upset she seemed that night and how annoying it was when she ignored him the day after.

What could his mother possibly have said to Gabriella to trigger such a big reaction? He returned to his room after asking Chad to give him some alone time. He opened the fridge to grab a bottle of water before unlocking his phone and touching the phone icon next to "Mother".

"Mother?"

"Oh, Troy, honey." He could hear her mother's smile through her voice. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." He answered. "The beach here is beautiful and the water is so blue."

"Great! Taylor suggested Bora Bora would be the perfect destination for a nice honeymoon and I guess she was right." Of course Taylor was the mastermind behind the hotel, the beach, and basically just the entire vacation. Taylor was the Queen's most trusted assistant and she also handled all of the affairs regarding the royal couple and was the head of all the assistants. Sharpay and Chad listened to her orders and was trained accordingly under Taylor's supervision.

"Mother, I called because I'm a little worried about Gabriella. I mean, after that dinner you guys had together, she seemed a little off." A little off was a total understatement. More like she went from a usual pain in the ass to extra pains in multiple asses.

"Oh, honey. I didn't say much. I was just telling her about the tabloids."

"What tabloids? Chad never showed me anything about the tabloids recently." Part of these assistants' job was to understand what the Prince or Princess or whoever they worked under liked and disliked. Troy always disliked paying attention to tabloids. They always blew everything out of proportion and he only cared to see them if it was getting out of hand which made a press conference necessary. And Chad also understood that the Prince wasn't a big fan of hearing about his own tabloids. All of Troy's life, he tried so hard to please everyone around him, sometimes, he just wanted to ignore what other people thought of him.

"It wasn't about you. Just some tabloids on Gabriella. In fact, there were a lot of different magazines talking about this matter. It was just some pictures that shouldn't be shown to the public." The queen's voice was a bit hesitant. She didn't want Troy to freak out over something that was between Gabriella and the public. She didn't want him to get involved too soon. "She needs to learn how to deal with this anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just a matter regarding drug use. There are some pictures of her smoking marijuana and as the Crown Princess of Canovia, it's just a shame. We arranged this marriage thinking she was a perfect candidate for you to redeem your image. She was an artist, an heir to a multimillion dollar company, and was well educated. But these pictures are really stirring up controversy, Troy."

"So what, you yelled at her? Insulted her? Is that what you did, mother?" He dabbled in quite a few soft drugs when he was studying overseas. College life was always about new experiences and just being independent and doing stupid things. If a college kid went through all four years of undergraduate school without doing anything stupid, then this person obviously missed out on some growing up.

"Troy, I was just letting her know her wrongdoings—"

"Mother, we just got married. We barely even know each other and are learning to get along. Cut her a break please. If she was just smoking pot in these pictures then the public will get over it. I understand it is behavior that is inappropriate for a Crown Princess but I honestly don't think it's that bad."

"Troy, this affects your image too. The tabloids will just write about you and the public will once again be ashamed to have a Crown Prince who behaves so inappropriately."

A few years back during his drunk driving scandal, people dug up all sorts of pictures of him through social networks and made up lies after lies about the royal family. Although Canovia was a small country, the people of Canovia saw the royal family as this role model and a symbol of their identity. Many citizens started to oppose to Troy being the next King and nothing he did in the past was helping his image, it was hard to repair. His marriage was supposed to be something to restore his image and regain respect from the public. "I know, mother. I understand but—"

"You will be the next King and the citizens of Canovia need to feel confident in their future King. Their future head of state and future icon."

"I understand, Mother." He had nothing else to say. Yes, he was angry and yes, he still didn't feel that smoking marijuana was the end of the world. But everything his mother said was true. This was his chance to redeem himself and her chance to save her father's company. That was the basis of their marriage and that would always be the reason why they married each other.

After goodbyes, the mother and son conversation ended. Troy gulped down the water from the water bottle as he leaned against the counter on the kitchen. This marriage was out of convenience. She was trying to get something from this and so was he. So why did he care so much about her feelings?

He knew he was trying hard. He wanted to attain this woman so badly. She was beyond just beautiful and her interests captivated him more than any book he read or any movie he saw. She was a woman he had never seen before. A woman that didn't swoon over him the moment he asked her out on a date. Did he really want to spend the rest of his life with a woman who seemed so emotionally incapable of loving him back at the moment? Or did he need to know this woman better to really know if he was capable of loving her? He drank more of the water after throwing his phone on the counter top. Just as he was deep in thought about a certain brunette, that certain brunette walked through the front door and started peeking around looking for him.

"Troy…?" She made her way to the kitchen to find him standing against the counter and deep in thought. "Sorry I fell asleep, the sun is just too comfortable, it makes me doze off easily." She still had her short white sundress on and the red bikini peeking underneath.

Troy didn't say a word. He just nodded at her and drank more of his water. "Good to know."

"Is everything okay?" She walked towards him and now stood next to him against the counter. "You seem a little quiet."

"I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"What are you thinking about?" She didn't want to pry but she cared. She didn't want to care but somehow in the end, she always ended up doing so.

"Nothing, I'm going to go take a nap or something." He started to walk towards the living room when Gabriella reached out to grip onto his arm. She didn't want him to leave her alone.

Biting on his lip nervously, he looked at Gabriella and deep into her brown orbs.

She sighed out before speaking. "Did that kiss mean nothing to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"That morning."

Troy's thoughts were racing with images of her lip so close to his, her hot breath against his and the final touch of her lips against his own. Her skin was smooth and her lips were anything but dry. He looked away from her again as his thoughts drew him in. She was so tempting. Every part of her. Her voice, her skin, her eyes, her hair, and those tattoos she had on different small parts of her skin. He shouldn't look at her. He needed to clear his thoughts and think to himself.

"So it meant nothing? Even when I cooked and shared so many things?" Gabriella continued to speak after the lack of response from Troy. That kiss they shared, the meal they shared were all things Gabriella wanted her husband to do with her. These were all the things she imagined her marriage to be. Maybe it was too good to be true? How could there be anything in an arranged marriage?

"I'm just tired." His mother was right. The reason for this marriage was to repair his image and he needed to focus on that instead of worrying about how to be a good husband and all those other things that took over his time for the past month.

"What is wrong with you? We were just fine when we talked on the beach." Annoyed was an understatement. She was more than just annoyed and confused but frustrated. When she wasn't trying, he blamed her for not trying but when she was finally giving this a chance, he started to pull away.

"Gabriella, are you happy?" He wanted to know the truth. The truth of how Gabriella really felt in this marriage. If it was only out of benefits for the two of them then it could be better to keep it that way instead of dabbling into a relationship that wasn't there in the first place and having feelings hurt while still having to be legally linked to each other. This could simply be a union of convenience, if he tried really hard to keep it at that. Her emotions were running wild when she mentioned her life before their marriage and tears were all he could see through her eyes. And not a single drop was a tear of happiness. She missed her old life, she felt trapped and caged and he could see it.

"I was."

The answer he expected. Of course she used to be happy, but all of that was taken away from her because of her parent's company and his need to repair his image.

"But Troy, that doesn't mean I can't be happy with you." Her eyes were brown and filled with raw emotion. She meant it, and he felt it. She looked vulnerable and so innocent. Her tongue brushed against her lips nervously and his eyes darted down from her eyes to the bridge of her nose and down to her lips. He couldn't resist. He had to step away or else he wouldn't be able to keep himself from caving into the beauty of this caged woman. "When you slipped the ring on me today, I realized I wanted to be happy again. Yes, I married you for reasons out of my control, but that doesn't mean we can't try to be happy together. And spending the rest of your life with someone you can't stand is probably worse than losing my dad's company. I realized I should stop being so stubborn and appreciate your effort for trying and try harder each and every day. Love isn't instant, like isn't even instant. All of this takes time and I'm willing to give you my time of the day starting today."

Speechless once again, Troy looked down at his feet as if there were words on the ground he could use to piece together a sentence. But there weren't words on the ground and there weren't words in his brain either. He just looked at the ground and bit his lip like an idiot. Gabriella turned him into a mute, an idiot, and a teenage boy all at once.

She knew he hated how difficult she could be but he was the same. He was always speechless at the wrong times and said things that made her angry. From suggesting divorce to her basically confessing she wanted to give their marriage a try, he never knew what to say to make her feel better. "Are you serious?" She scoffed while shaking her head. "I said all of that but you just look down on the ground? You know what, forget it…"

His gaze shot back up when she opened her mouth to speak again. She was so self-centered and he hated it but at the same time filled the void of his constant speechlessness. Never had a woman ever yelled at him for not responding to an almost full on confession. But Gabriella would. She always said what she hated about him and always showed him how pathetic he could be. Troy still had no words to say but he could no longer resist. Her words woke him, this woman, this beautiful woman was standing right in front of him basically giving him a chance that he wanted but he could only stand there with nothing to say.

He couldn't control his arm and his hand that reached out to grab her as she started to leave his side. He grounded her between his arms against the counter, his face was so close to hers and her body was trapped in between his two arms.

"Talk to me." Gabriella demanded. Her eyes seemed to grow into a darker brown as her genuine eyes started to fill up with the tension between them. "Speak. Don't always be so speechless whenever I talk to you."

Troy's lips curved into a smirk and Gabriella's eyes were still unchanged. She wanted him to talk to her, yell at her, anything. "I hate you. I hate you. You don't know what to say ever, you're pathetic." She hit her fists against his chest repeatedly and tried to squirm out of his arms.

"Stop. Stop saying things you don't mean. You don't hate me. If you hated me you wouldn't have said all that to me." He finally spoke out as his arms left her side to grab her wrists. Her constant hits against his chest didn't hurt him but made him finally choke up the words he should have said.

"No, I hate you." Gabriella looked up at him with not a smile, but not a frown either. "I…" Her head started to lean up towards his while her lips brushed against his chin and then up to his bottom lip. He immediately dipped his head down to meet her lips at her height. Their lips met once again in a union. Troy's hands still had a firm grip on her wrists that started to loosen. His hands were now placed against her stomach and against the thin material of her sundress. Gabriella pulled her head back to break away from the kiss to finish her sentence. "I hate you." She whispered against his lips. Her smiling lips gave away the paradox of her words as Troy leaned back in to catch her smile in a kiss.

Her arms slowly snaked around his neck and grips on his hair became tugs as his hand moved up to her breasts. He pressed her hands against them while letting a moan escape from both of their lips. Their tongues came in contact with each other in a heat more intense than the sun outside. His hands continued their journey of learning all the curves on her body as they moved down her sides and up her sundress. He hiked up the thin material of her sundress and his fingers underneath her string bikini top.

"Shit." She broke away from the kiss for less than what we consider a second. Her lips crashed onto his again with even more force than before, she was hungry for more of his touch and more of his lips. Gabriella's tug on Troy's hair loosened for her to travel her fingers down to the front of his torso. The cotton on his t-shirt was stuck to his sweaty body. As her hands worked their way down to his swim trunks, his fingers rolled over her perked nipple.

Troy reluctantly broke away from the heat of their kiss and left a kiss on her cheek. "I need this off." He said breathily before she gladly pulled her dress over her body and to the ground to reveal her now loose bikini that didn't even cover her nipple anymore. "Holy shit." He was mesmerized by the figure in front of him as she bit down on her lips. He trailed his hands up the back of her thigh to lightly squeeze her bottom only to hear a giggle escape her lips. Her hands trailed down to the front of his swim trunks and underneath to feel the tip of his hard member.

"Fuck, Gabriella." He let out a soft groan before returning the favor on her part. His hands dipped beneath her bikini bottom. She could feel her legs tremble the moment he touched her sensitive area. His fingers moved against her bare folds in a circular motion inside her still clothed area. Her body felt weak but an insane head high took her to a world of just the two of them. Gabriella's hands trembled against his member when he continued to speed up the pace of his own fingers.

"This is why I hate you." She moaned when her eyes rolled to the back of her head in pleasure.

"Stop." He planted a kiss onto her lips then down her chin and then down her neck. His nips were small but concentrated. She winced at the pain of having him leave his mark on such a visible area. His fingers started to slowly dip into her wet entering. "I don't want you to hate me."

"Too bad, I fucking do." Gabriella removed her hands from inside his swim trunks to pull them down completely.

Troy completely stopped his fingers and his hands traveled up to her hip for a firm grip on her body. "That's not I want to hear." He moved his hands up to her breasts again to completely cup them in his hands. While his hands were occupied with her body, his lips moved closer and closer to hers before he stopped completely, smiling against her lips.

"I want you." Gabriella finally spoke out. "I want you right now. Fuck me right now." Her breath hit against his lips every raw and erotic syllable she spoke and those were the words that he wanted to hear, those were the words that he knew she felt. Troy immediately released his hold on her breasts and pulled her bikini bottoms down. His hands quickly worked its way back up to the back of her bottom. Gripping tightly onto the flesh, he lifted her body up on the counter.

Gabriella could feel the cold granite against the heat of her skin beneath her. She pulled Troy's shirt above his head quickly. The quicker this went, the sooner she could have him completely. Their lips reunited in a kiss no less passionate than the one before. Troy's hands moved down to his hard member and angled it right at where it would fit perfectly, and move rhythmically.

He thrusted in without a second thought, her bikini top was still loose and losing its purpose of coverage. Their moans were messy, out of sync, but their rhythm was the same, and their skin brushed each other's in a friction for heat.

The intensity of each and every thrust caused Gabriella to almost become overwhelmed with sensation. Her body was trembling under his and against the cabinets on top of the counter. The granite counter was no longer cold, the heat of her skin overpowered any temperature in the room. Was it possible to want someone so much after just hating him so much?

Their kiss broke when their lips parted ways. He stared into Gabriella's eyes with every thrust and her arms returned to the grips on his hair.

Troy could feel the overwhelming sensation sending tingles up his spine. He pushed into Gabriella in a quicker pace and deeper when he heard her almost cry out his name. Her mind only went to a higher state when he heard her reactions of ecstasy.

With just a few more pushes, the two of them breathed out each other's name as their bodies trembled against each other.

"Holy shit." Gabriella said breathlessly. "That was fucking amazing." She leaned in to plant a kiss on his lips.

The couple needed a minute to themselves to fully comprehend what just happened and the sensations they just felt with each other, a high they reached together in a consensual union that would never leave their memories.

Troy was speechless once again when he leaned in to kiss the woman in front of him, the beautiful woman he called his wife, the beautiful woman that was the Crown Princess of Canovia, the beautiful woman that fit the beautiful sound of Gabriella Montez.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter! I really really appreciate it. I love all the feedback I can get :) Please review again to let me know what you thought on yet another really long chapter. Let all [remaining] Troyella/Zanessa fans know about my fanfic if you can ;) Oh how I wish haha. Recently, I started thinking about Zanessa again. Although they're not together anymore, I still miss when I used to look forward to their sightings as a pre-teen fan. When I wrote my other stories on this account, I was only eleven or twelve years old. I stopped writing completely when I was fourteen. I think I left the HSM fandom because I became interested in other things. Sometime in 2015 though, I started missing parts of my childhood after some traumatic issues I went through that involved drugs and some messed up relationships. I realized how great and simple everything was when I was young. And how much of an impact V and Z and HSM in general made in my life. When I came back to this community, I realized many people I used to interact with have left and grew up. But it still amazes me to this day how many supporters and readers are still out there. This is a pretty long rant on my personal life/thoughts, but I guess I just want to say thanks for reading and just helping me relive these amazing memories of my childhood by supporting my comeback to the community. Thanks for the support, guys! Let me know what you thought of this chapter! You all inspire me to write more every day.**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 09**

The doorbell rang when Troy got up from his bed and threw on a pair of boxers. Gabriella was still sleeping on their bed with her legs and her body tangled in the white sheets while her hair flowed wildly on her pillow. He walked out to the living room of their suite to open the front door. A hotel employee flashed a smile at the Prince as he gladly greeted him. "Good morning, Mr. Bolton. You called for Room Service?"

"Yes." He looked down at the food that was covered by a metal lid. When the man at the door lifted the lids up to reveal the lavish meal he ordered, Troy's smile grew into a full grin. "Here I have a slice of Blueberry Streusel Coffee cake, a Belgian waffle with some strawberries and whip, a vanilla latte, and a glass of orange juice. And we also have a cinnamon roll and a slice of pancakes with syrup on the side."

"Thank you." Troy smiled at the man as he wheeled in the cart that carried their food. After tipping the man, he quickly ushered him out the door.

The food sat on top of the cart in a large tray. He carefully lifted the tray up and made his way back into their bedroom. Gabriella was starting to stir awake when she heard the clinking of plates on the moving tray. Her eyes opened slowly to find Troy absent from her side. She sat up only to find exactly who she was looking for setting down a tray at the foot of the bed.

"For you." He crawled back into the bed next to his wife as he smiled. "I don't really know what you like to eat for breakfast so I got a little bit of everything I thought you'd like."

"Troy…" Her hands were covering her mouth in surprise and a smile beneath her hands spread so wide it almost hurt. "Troy… oh my god."

"Now before you say that I can't even get up and make it for you, I want you to know that I'm not good at cooking. I never cooked a day in my life. So I guess I took a shortcut and ordered room service for you."

"No… this is amazing." Gabriella giggled as she reached out to move the tray up on her lap. Her other hand moved the blanket up her body to cover her bare body as she reached for the slice of coffee cake. "I can teach you how to cook." She looked over at Troy who was now lying down on his pillow again.

"That should be interesting." He laughed a little as he watched her take an enormous bite of the coffee cake. "Should I be taking notes on the type of breakfast foods you like?"

"I like to try all kinds of things so I honestly like everything on this tray right now." She took another bite of the blueberry pastry before sipping on the orange juice.

"So I'm guessing you like orange juice more than coffee since you clearly chose that one over the latte."

She shrugged and laughed softly. "I am just really happy right now."

Happy. _Gabriella, are you happy?_ The question he asked yesterday afternoon repeatedly echoed in his head. _She wanted to be happy with me._ Troy smiled to himself as he reassured himself. "It's so easy to make you happy." Come to think of it, she was so upset just a few days ago when they arrived on the island. But now she was beaming and glowing of smiles and laughter.

"It's actually not that simple." She finished the last bite of her coffee cake as she turned to look down at her husband. "Happiness is a simple concept but a complex emotion. There are so many elements that affect happiness. And happiness isn't the same as just being happy, it's much more than that."

He listened as she spoke those words. Their eyes were locked on each other's while Troy let all that information process in his brain.

"What makes you happy, Troy?"

That was a question that left Troy even more speechless than ever, if that was even possible. He thought he'd been happy all his life. But Gabriella made him feel excited the same way he felt when he was in college. The fire within him was relighted. Sharpay was the one that put it out when he left London and Gabriella was the one to light it once again.

"You know, you really need to work on answering questions." Gabriella chuckled to herself before cutting up pieces of the pancake.

"I know. I'm not very good at cooking or coming up with answers to personal questions."

"Those are both things I can help you with." She brought a piece of the pancake between her lips with the help of her fork. "Are you hungry?"

He eyed the pancakes that was drenched in maple syrup and looked back up at Gabriella while he sat up. "Yes." He flashed her a smirk as he watched her take another bite.

"Okay, here." Gabriella handed him the plate of pancakes. "Enjoy yourself." She turned her attention to the orange juice and waffle.

Disappointed, Troy set the plate back down on the tray. "I don't want the pancakes."

She laughed as she stabbed her fork into a small piece of the waffle. The waffle was drenched in a strawberry sauce and some whipped crème on top. Using her hand to catch any falling crème or fruits, she neared the fork up to his lips carefully. "Open."

Troy's mouth opened as soon as the piece of waffle touched his lips and licked the whipped crème off the corner of his lips. "Thanks." He grabbed the latte on the tray. "For someone who really hates me, you treat me pretty okay."

"Keep your friends closer, but your enemies closer." She said jokingly after taking a sip of her orange juice.

"Did you really mean what you said yesterday?"

The playful atmosphere of the room suddenly transformed into a cloudy gray tension once their little escapade from yesterday was mentioned. "You mean like when I said I wanted to try things with you?"

"That and also when you said you hated me."

"I think so."

"All of it? You really hate me?" Flashes of their acts yesterday afternoon came into Troy's head. Every touch and moan filled his thoughts before it got interrupted by their little altercation beforehand.

"Well that depends on how much you meant your actions."

"Gabriella, not only did we fuck, we made love." He set the latte back down on the tray before pushing the tray towards the foot of the bed. He knew they needed to talk without the distraction of sex or food. Should he still care about what his mother told him? How much did a pristine image matter to him compared to the woman in front of him right now?

She stopped eating, stopped chewing, stopped drinking, and almost forgot breathing. Gabriella turned her body towards Troy and adjusted the blanket to make sure it was still covering her breasts. Her mind went blank the moment he said those two words. They _made love_. They didn't just fuck, but they made love. "I meant what I said. The part where I wanted to really try things out, but also the part about hating you. I hate the way you don't know what to say and I also hate that you secretly think I'm a pain in the ass, but I don't always hate you and I want to learn to… love you."

"I don't just make love to any woman you know…" He reached out to place a strand of hair behind her ear. "Making love is more than just being fucked and I want you to know what happened yesterday in the kitchen was me making love to you."

 _Made love._ That was a word Gabriella hadn't associated much significance to since her first time with her first boyfriend when she was the tender age of seventeen. She had many sexual encounters but majority of them were just that. They were just sexual encounters and sex. Making love carried a whole different set of connotations. Was this how it felt like to have sex with your husband? She could get used to this, these little luxuries of being a wife, the wife of Troy Bolton. "You can be wonderful sometimes, you know?"

"I want to be wonderful for you all the time, Gabriella."

Those words echoed in her head again and again. He wanted to be wonderful for her. He wanted to make love to her. He wanted to try things with her the same way she wanted to make this marriage work out for real. And most importantly, they wanted each other and all of each other. She smiled at him before inching her face close to his. Her breath on his lips and her eyes closed in a moment of pure serenity. Her hands reached up to his hair and slowly she ran her fingers through the back of his hair. Her lips inched even closer until her lips slowly traveled to the skin next to his lips and up his cheek. She planted a soft kiss on his cheek before pulling away with an even bigger smile.

Troy's heartbeat rang in his ears from the simple kiss on his cheek. He grabbed her wrist to slowly pull her hands away from his head and down onto his lap. "Do you want to go out with me?"

"Huh?" She laughed softly at his question.

"Go on a date with me. Just you and me, like normal couples when they get to know each other."

"I'll think about it." She winked as she got up from the bed, her naked body unwrapped from the comforter.

Troy's eyes widened from her sudden exposure. Her bare backside displayed the ample curve at her lower back and all the way down her thighs. Her dark locks bounced when she moved, triggering chills down her spine. He'd slept with more than just a couple women before and they were all beautiful in their own ways. But rarely did he get to fully learn every curve and every little spot on their skin with a full display of their backside.

"I know you're staring at my ass." She turned around to find his eyes wide open and his nervous attempt to look away. "I'm going to take a shower and think about how much I may or may not want to go out on a date with you." She twisted the doorknob to the entrance of their bathroom and stepped inside as Troy's eyes watched her every movement.

When the door shut close and the sound of the showerhead could be heard from the bedroom, Troy picked up his cellphone from the nightstand and dialed the most familiar phone number of all. When the person on the other end picked up, he immediately made a request.

"Chad, I need you to book a private boat tour for the next hour. I don't care what it takes or how much It costs."

"Will do, your highness. I hope you and the Princess are having a lovely day so far."

"Oh we are." He smiled to himself as visions of their delightful day flashed in his mind.

"Would you like Ms. Evans and I to come along and help you guys with everything?" Chad always wanted to make sure the Prince was taken care of. Members of the royal family grew up with nannies and servants. Even the littlest things needed their assistance.

"No, Chad. But thank you. It will just be me and Gabriella. So take the day off and do something fun with the body guards." Troy wanted to have a normal first date. Although normal would be eating pizza and going to a movie, but how normal could a royal marriage get? To the royal couple, a boat tour on a planned honeymoon was already as normal as it would get. "Thanks, Chad. Let me know after you've booked it."

"Absolutely, your highness." Chad answered before their goodbyes.

When Chad hit the end call button, the blonde sitting across from him at the dining table immediately spoke. "So we're going up to the Prince and the Princess's suite?" Sharpay cut another piece of the sausage and brought it up to her lips with her fork. Sharpay and Chad decided to get some breakfast at the breakfast buffet in the lobby before starting their days with the royal couple. Sharpay stuffed the rest of the sausage in her mouth while taking a huge gulp of her orange juice quickly. When the Princess called for her, she tried to make it there quick.

Chad chuckled to himself while he watched Sharpay stuff down her breakfast the moment she assumed the Princess needed her. "It's okay. No need to rush. They said for us to take the day off. They don't need us."

Sharpay set her fork down while she started to slow down her quick chewing. That was odd. If they didn't need either of them then what was the call about? "So why did the Prince call?"

"He wants me to book a boat tour for him. Like one of those private ones with a guide who also drives the boat. It's popular with honeymoons. So I guess they want to be alone." He shrugged while he started looking on his cellphone for any available private boat tours. As Chad focused his attention on completing his only professional task of the day, Sharpay cut a piece of the second piece of sausage link off to place in her mouth. While she chewed on her breakfast, Sharpay couldn't help but be curious about the royal couple. Just yesterday, she didn't wear her ring, but then a few seconds later it was back on, and now they were spending time alone all day? Gabriella hadn't talked to her about anything since they left Canovia. The blonde sighed out softly while she took a sip of her orange juice. Why did she care anyway? They were married and it should be none of her business whether or not Gabriella wore her wedding ring. Sharpay tried her hardest to shake off these uneasy feelings and her painful curiosity. Ever since the night she chatted with Troy, they had not really spoken except that brief interaction on the beach concerning Gabriella's risk of a sunburn.

"What do they do on these boat tours?" Sharpay asked as she tried her best to act natural.

"They usually ride around a boat together with a single tour guide and basically snorkel, have a dinner on the boat, and do whatever. It's really romantic. I heard about these. They're supposedly really popular here in Bora Bora." Chad scrolled down the webpage on his phone. "If you excuse me, I'm going to go make a call."

As Chad excused himself to book a private tour, Sharpay could feel her thoughts running wild. She wanted to shake these thoughts off so badly. They were ill thoughts and they were thoughts that were unrealistic. _Troy was her past and the past was the past... right?_

* * *

"Where are we going?" Gabriella slipped into her high waisted shorts and a cropped white tank top. She wore one of her many bikinis underneath, since she wore the red one yesterday, she decided to wear a turquoise bikini top and a black bikini bottom. After coming out from the shower, Gabriella planned to take a walk down the beach but instead she was greeted with Troy packing towels, sunscreen, and his favorite Nikon camera into a bag.

"On a date, remember?" He finally assembled everything within the beach bag and slung it over his shoulders. "Let's go."

"I didn't agree to this! I am still thinking about it, remember?" The playful tone in her voice was enough to give away her true thoughts. Troy rolled his eyes at her and motioned for her to follow him out the front door. Gabriella smiled at him and rolled her eyes back while she slipped her sandals on and followed him out the door. His hair wasn't gelled back like it normally would be and his light blue t-shirt matched the true blues of his eyes. His swim trunks were the same as yesterday, black with some stripes on the hem. While they stood in the elevator in silence, Gabriella looked up at his features. Every time she looked at his face, she found something new and something even more beautiful than before. The way his eyes would go from a light blue to a darker blue in different lights and different situations still fascinated her. Was she in love or was this just attraction? She felt special whenever he looked at her. She felt like the only woman on this earth. Was she just feeling this one-sidedly? All these questions inside of her just from looking at the man next to her were driving her mad.

When the elevator dinged to signal the arrival to the lobby, the couple walked out and turned to the exit to the beach.

"Just follow me okay?" Troy smiled at Gabriella as they walked on the sand and towards the water.

She nodded and followed behind Troy while they walked towards a pier to see a small yacht parked up by the pier. "Shit… is that yacht for us?"

"Yes, my dear." Troy chuckled softly as the couple walked up towards the guide who stood right on the deck of the boat. "My name is Troy Bolton and I asked to have this private boat tour booked earlier."

"Yes! Mr. Bolton!" The tour guide held out his hand to grip Troy's in a firm handshake. "My name is Arman and I will be your tour guide today. This will be your private boat." He smiled at the couple before holding out his hand to grab Gabriella's in his. Arman lowered his head and onto the back of Gabriella's hand to place a welcoming soft kiss. "What is your name, madame?"

"Gabriella Montez Bolton." She smiled at the tour guide and then at Troy. Her eyes twinkled and her grin stretched from ear to ear. Now this was going to be an exceptional first date. She thought to herself as the couple stepped foot onto the boat.

The smell of salt and air freshener filled the air the moment she stepped in the small motor yacht. The blue ocean and crashing waves painted the windows. She had never seen something so perfect and something so idealistic before. Only in paintings did a view like this come true. Gabriella was no stranger to luxury, from servants to lavish vacations to expensive hotels, she had seen it all. But this felt different, special, and more beautiful than just a view.

"How'd you know I'd like this?" She turned to look at her husband who smiled at the beautiful interior of the boat.

"It's called romantic boat tour, how would you not like it?" He teased.

The brunette's smile never left her face, she couldn't suppress the happiness she felt. Happiness—the topic they always circulated back to. "Once again, you're wonderful sometimes." She turned to look up at her husband who stood next to her with a cheeky grin. Just as Gabriella was about to lean up to place a kiss on his cheek, Troy leaned down to place his lips on her forehead. "I want to be wonderful for you all the time, Gabriella." His voice ghosted over the skin on her forehead in a whisper.

Her eyes were shut the moment his lips landed on her skin. She was sure of it, she was sure this was happiness. Happiness came so easily for her, but it only made her afraid of how easily it could be taken away. Her eyes fluttered open again to find their tour guide standing by the wheel to start the engine of the motor yacht.

The couple walked out to the deck where the tour guide started to take off from the pier. Gabriella listened as he briefly gave them some history of the island and the unique creatures that swam in their ocean. Troy and Gabriella listened closely as they learned a little about the culture and animals of Bora Bora.

"What does this tour consist of?" Gabriella asked Troy while looking out into the waves and the blue sky.

"Snorkeling and fishing. If you want, we can even have dinner later." He slid his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer. "No cellphones work out here so it's just you and me… and the tour guide." The thought of spending a day with Gabriella just having fun excited Troy more than anything else. This would be their first date, not a movie and dinner set up, but an exciting yacht date. Everything about Gabriella was exceptional, their first date, their first time, and their first real kiss outside of the altar, and basically the entire set up of their relationship.

"That sounds like a real date." She looked up at Troy with that permanent grin. And he knew, that grin was what happiness looked like, and his own smile was happiness starting to creep in.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading guys! Please let me know what you guys thought of this chapter! It's kind of a set up for the next chapter and I just wanted to give some fluff :)**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

There was a candle on the table between them and two plates of grilled Mahi Mahi topped with a delicious vanilla sauce. The sky was dim and the lights were dim. Her hair was a mess and her makeup was almost completely rubbed off. There were also two wine glasses and two perfect smiles plastered on their faces.

The wine was more sour than usual and the fish was a bit overlooked but the food and the wine was hardly the star of the show. _She was._

The little chatters, laughs, and that irreplaceable smile couldn't escape his thoughts ever since they got back to the hotel.

Was it the wine having an effect on him? Or was he intoxicated by the woman he had the pleasure of calling his wife? Wine always had an effect on him, this couldn't possibly be real. He was feeling attraction and care again for a woman other than Sharpay Evans. Ever since he left his romance behind in London during his college years, he didn't think it would be possible to feel these familiar feelings again. He must be dreaming. Troy shut his eyes and opened them again after a few seconds, only to find himself looking up at the tray ceiling of his hotel room. He was still in his t-shirt and shorts and still laying in the bed in the same position and feeling the same feelings before he shut his eyes.

The water inside of the suite bathroom was still running and there was no escaping. This was reality, these thoughts, his constant and automatic reminders of her beauty, the desire to make her happy, and the way he loved to look at her. The flashes of their escapade in the kitchen a few days ago couldn't leave his head. Every little curve of her body became engrained into his mind even though he had only seen it in its full glory only once. He wanted to see it again, he wanted to feel that passion again and hear her drown herself inside of their passion once again.

The way she was so fascinated at the colorful creatures underneath the water with her snorkel on. The way she actually didn't know anything about snorkeling despite her always being a smart aleck about everything. There were little cute quirks about her that he had the pleasure of learning in spite of her contradicting annoying personality quirks.

Captures of their first date together filled his favorite Nikon camera. Reaching his arm out to grab the camera from the nightstand, Troy hit the green play button to see a playback of all the pictures he took on the boat today. He skipped through many of the random snaps of Gabriella posing in front of the blue ocean view. He didn't dislike any of these pictures, he loved the blue ocean against her dark wavy hair flowing freely down her shoulders, but his favorite picture was a candid of his wife looking down at her feet, a smile plastered on her face, but an obvious attempt to hide it from him as she looked down. Her hair flowed wildly down her shoulders and the color of the sky was painted with a sunset. Everything about this picture was beautiful, the angle in which he snapped it, the colors in the background, and the candid smile of Gabriella.

He remembered when he used to take pictures of Sharpay on their college campus. She was always his model and inspiration for every picture he took. He used to look through pictures of Sharpay the same way he looked through pictures of Gabriella now. He loved every single picture of Sharpay and especially those candid pictures of her standing in front of beautiful scenery. He had fond memories of his relationship with Sharpay. The way they ended things may not have been the best, but she was his first serious relationship and she taught him how to love and cherish a woman.

But Gabriella was teaching him even more. She was teaching him how to communicate and cooperate in a marriage. She was teaching him how to love someone despite their flaws.

Troy smiled at the picture once again as he stared at it again and again. As soon as the sound of the water started to cut off, he immediately set the camera back on the night stand. He tried to snap himself out of the deep thoughts and relax his body against the soft mattress and pillow.

A whiff of her shampoo and body wash traveled across the room to signal her entrance. Cautiously, she climbed into the opposite side of the bed. Troy glanced over slightly to find Gabriella's phone in her hand as she laughed slightly. She was wearing her favorite grey bralette with a pair of blue shorts that hugged her hips along with her few pieces of girly body art and her shiny belly button jewelry on full display. "How was your shower?" He turned his head back towards the night stand as he asked.

"It was fine." Her eyes were glued to her phone as she answered his casual question.

What could be so interesting on her phone that she couldn't look away for even one second? He cleared his throat awkwardly before asking another question to get her attention. "What was your favorite part of our date?"

"Probably snorkeling." She gave another short answer as she tapped her thumb against the screen on her phone. Not once did she look up from the bright screen.

Troy turned his body over to face Gabriella. Not looking away even for a split second to notice his shifted body position, she typed away on her phone, the loudest noise of the room being the tapping of her nails against the glass screen. "What is so important on your phone that you can't even look at me when I'm trying to talk to you?"

Gabriella suddenly stopped typing on her phone the moment he asked that question. Her right eyebrow arched up but her expression was flat. There was neither a smile nor a frown, just a stale expression before she began to speak. "Who are you, trying to tell me what to do?"

"Your husband." Troy articulated the three syllables to emphasize his point.

"I don't need you to tell me when I may or may not look at my phone… your royal highness." She rolled her eyes at him before clicking the lamp light off and lying down on the pillow to face the side of the nightstand, away from Troy.

"I just wanted to know if you had fun on our first date, okay? I'm trying to see how I can improve next time. I just wanted your attention for maybe five minutes."

Now in the dark, the couple continued to add fuel to the fire. "I had a great time, okay? You happy now?"

"No, you didn't even mean that. You're just saying it because you're pissed off at me talking to you."

"Damn it Troy, I answered your question and you're still being an ass." Gabriella slid the covers up to her head in attempt to block out her husband's annoying remarks. Sometimes he was like a five year old child who craved attention.

"I want you to mean it."

"Troy, why are you forcing me to say something? I mean, can't you see I had a good time today? If you have eyes, you can probably tell that I had a good time." She uncovered herself from the blanket and turned her body the other way, only to find her husband's back towards her.

"I just… want to know that I make you happy." He shut his eyes as he sighed out in embarrassment. He rarely admitted things like this to anyone, not even himself. His own insecurity was uncovered and the only person who he'd ever been this corny with was Sharpay. "I just needed some verbal reassurance."

Her annoyance slowly subsided after hearing those words and her lips slowly curved into a smirk. "Look at me." She demanded.

"No."

"Turn around and look at me. I want to tell you the truth."

Troy sighed once again as he turned his body to face Gabriella. Her eyes twinkled under the faint moon light that crept in from the unclosed curtains. Before his eyes could travel down to see the smile on her face, she pulled him in closer by placing her hands on his cheek until their lips met.

The way her lips moved against his would forever be his favorite feeling starting from the first time she kissed him meaningfully. And all the times after that had only been more and more addicting. His tongue swiped against her bottom lip pleading for entry. She gladly gave him permission by opening her mouth wider and moving to lay on top of his body. Her fingers were tangled in his hair while she shifted to a comfortable position on top of him.

Her legs straddled his hips as the kiss grew more passionate and his hands explored the curve of her back and up the slope of her lower back. Troy's hands grabbed tightly onto the flesh as Gabriella continued to kissed him even deeper than what he thought was possible. If there was something beyond heaven, Troy was sure he was there every time she kissed him.

Troy's mind was shot back to reality when he needed oxygen from the literally breathtaking kiss. His eyes were still glazed with passion as he stared into Gabriella's eyes. She sat up with her legs still straddling him. There was a smile on her face that reminded him of that picture. She looked down at his chest as she smiled, her hands fiddling with the fabric of his t-shirt as she drew little invisible lines on top of his clothed chest. His hand gripped gently on the sides of her hips as she sat on top of him, relaxing and enjoying the sound of each other's breath.

"I enjoyed every part of our date today. It was really fun and the ocean is so beautiful. It's so blue and all the fish in the ocean were so beautiful." She looked back up to meet her eyes with his.

"I enjoyed every part of it too. It was probably the coolest first date ever." He chuckled softly as his hands traveled up her arms to play with the strands of her still semi-damp hair. "I can't wait until our second date."

"I didn't agree to a second date yet."

"Come on, Mrs. Bolton."

She gave him her famous eye roll, the eye roll that always came after one of his annoying comments—the annoying comments she was growing to love.

"Thank you, Gabriella."

"Huh?" Her smile transformed into a confused expression from his sudden appreciation.

"Thank you…" Troy's hands snaked up to the back of her head and underneath the locks of her hair to push her head back down until their lips met once again. This time it was soft and gentle, his lips lingered on hers after the initial smooch before he pecked her lips and reopened his eyes. "… for this." His breath feathered against her lips as he spoke.

Gabriella bit down onto her bottom lip before rolling off of him and back down onto the mattress. "No problem." She slipped back under the covers as she closed her eyes.

He reached out to pull her in closer while his hands rested against her lower back. Their breaths filled the silence of the room as Gabriella leaned closer into his chest.

"Goodnight, babe." Troy lightly brushed his fingers against her bare skin.

"Goodnight." She could feel her heart racing, the beating of her heart almost ringing in her ear. This was the first time they actually acknowledged each other's presence in bed together. The first time she felt him pull her close to him and whisper a simple 'Goodnight'. Today was a day of important firsts. First time snorkeling, first date with a man she could learn to love, and first time they shared a moment more intimate than even their most private business in the kitchen the other day—a kiss goodnight.

* * *

"Hello?" Gabriella's eyes were still shut from sleepiness while her hands held her phone up to her ear against the pillow. She didn't even bother to see who was calling this early in the morning.

"Gabi, sweetie?" A familiar man's voice spoke over the line.

"Dad?" It took all of her energy to just voice that one syllable. The boat tour tired her out so much, she could stay in bed all day today.

"I hope you're having a good time, honey. Bora Bora is really pretty, I heard."

"Yeah, it's nice. Thanks for asking, dad." She yawned while her eyes peeled open to find Troy still asleep on the other side. She removed the phone from against her ear to check the time. Her eyes widened when she read the time to be 6:02AM. What was her father doing calling her at this hour?

"Everything civil between you and the Prince? Your mother told me you've been a little upset with him lately."

"Everything's good. Better than before." She sat up from her bed to speak in a less groggy manner. "Hey dad, I love talking to you and all but is everything okay? It's a little early in the morning for small talk right now…"

"Sweetie… I don't know how to say this. Your mother doesn't want me telling you this because she was afraid it'll ruin your honeymoon and so she kept me from calling you for the past two days. But I thought you should know this because it is getting a little out of control."

"What do you mean, dad?" Her dad was always the rock of her family. He never cried, he never broke, and he was always the one who kept it together in a rational manner. To hear her father concerned and his voice so uncertain alerted the brunette to completely wake up from her sleepiness. She cautiously stepped out of bed and walked out of the bedroom and into the balcony since she didn't want to disturb her husband's needed peaceful slumber.

"There are pictures of you at nightclubs and pictures of you with your friends that show 'non-classy' behavior. There are articles after articles about you on every magazine here and the paparazzi has been outside of our gates, harassing your mother every time she left our home. I called after I saw her almost get attacked by some so called reporter when we were trying to get our mail." A mixture of disappointment, confusion, and frustration was contained within Jorge Montez's unsually calm voice.

"Dad, those pictures were taken so long ago. I swear, I don't do that anymore." She didn't know what she was more concerned about, her image or her father's disappointment. "I was stupid, I didn't even know there were such pictures until the Queen told me. I didn't know they were taken."

"Gabriella, you're my daughter, I know you. I know you're a good girl and I know you are talented in what you do and just have so much passion for everything you do. But I can't help but be disappointed in your carelessness. You're the crown princess, sweetie. You can't be this careless."

"Dad, I didn't know. I didn't know I would marry the prince after these pictures were taken. I didn't know they would come back to haunt me like this. And I would never expect it to become so bothersome to you guys." Those feelings were back, the same emotions she felt when the Queen had a 'talk' with her. At the end of the day, it wasn't all rainbows with Troy. Love didn't conquer all, she was still the crown princess that had a lot of cleaning up to do.

"You're my daughter. You're the heiress to this multimillion dollar company. It's just very careless for you to let this happen."

The disappointment was no longer contained, she felt it. She felt it in full force and she felt it in herself as well. Her father, out of everyone in the world, just showed his disappointment. That stung more than anything the Queen said or anything anyone else said to her. It stung a billion times more than what any of those magazines wrote about her. "Dad…"

"It's embarrassing, Gabriella. I don't know if letting you marry Troy to save the company was the best thing to do. You're still young and everything is coming at you. It's causing a mess in our family and in the royal family."

"Dad, I didn't know. How could I possibly know I would be Crown Princess? I know I'm your daughter and your reputation is really important but Montez Foods was never my dream, dad. It was yours and can't you see I did my best to help you save it?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing from everyone. It was the world against her. Even her own father subliminally blamed her for the ordeal.

"Your mother cried to herself last night when she saw one of those articles and pictures of you smoking a joint next to your friends snorting a line of god-knows-what on a counter." Her father continued. "How can you expect me not to be upset?"

"Dad—"

"Come home to Canovia soon, please. I can't stand seeing your mother cry again. You started a mess and you need to clean this up, Gabi." Jorge's voice was stern and no longer filled with uncertainty. His stoic fatherly front came back to mask the vulnerable moment he just had. "Love you." He added before hanging up.

Gabriella took a seat on one of the chairs on the balcony and buried her face in the palm of her hands after practically throwing her phone onto the little table next to her chair. What the Queen said to her now meant nothing. The power of her words held nothing against her own father's words. The man she always tried so hard to please and to make happy was disappointed in her. She made her mother cry and made all of Canovia hate their new Crown Princess. They probably all hated her already just a little over a month into her royal marriage. How could Troy stand by a wife that shamed the royal family the second she stepped into it? He wouldn't. Gabriella let tears well up in her eyes and erupt into the palm of her hands. Quickly, her hands were soaked with the salty tears and her cheeks were wet with tears once again. She could barely help her own image, how could she help Troy repair his?

The pack of cigarettes and the lighter she left out the other day was still sitting on the chair next to hers. She looked down at the blue and white package as she sighed out in frustration. She was back here again, she was back smoking a cigarette and feeling miserable about herself once again. She casually lit the stick and sucked in for the orange flame to light. At least she didn't have to think about anything else when she had the cigarette between her fingers. At least it took her away for a while just like the way this honeymoon did. It took her away to heaven for a little while and made her feel special. She felt like a real princess with Troy and thought everything would work. But why did their relationship even matter when no one else approved of her as their Crown Princess? The title meant much more than just being Troy's wife, it meant she represented her country, her people, and her culture. She wasn't Mrs. Bolton, she was Crown Princess Gabriella Rosalina Montez Bolton.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought! I love all the reviews so much :)_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"We're going home." Gabriella's voice sounded.

"What's going on?" Troy looked over to Sharpay who helped Gabriella organize the Princess's belongings. Confused, he stood by the doorframe of the bedroom as he looked at his wife and assistant.

Sharpay was silent. She glanced back at Troy when he looked over at her for an answer. But there was no answer from either woman. Gabriella was busy packing the last bit of her clothes while Sharpay helped. Invisible was what Troy felt like at the moment. He was standing there, confused.

He fell asleep to Gabriella's head snuggled comfortably against his chest but woke up to Gabriella and Sharpay packing everything in a suitcase while he watched in confusion. Their honeymoon wasn't supposed to end until this weekend, he had plans for them to shop for souvenirs and tour the city later on in the day. However, all his plans seemed to have slipped into oblivion the moment Gabriella announced she was going home.

To top it all off, there was a look of fear of Sharpay's face. She usually had a smile on her face and was always happy to serve the royal couple. But today, she had neither a smile nor a frown on her face. After packing the last item into her suitcase, Sharpay automatically zipped the suitcase and set it on the ground.

Gabriella was also silent. Her stale expression seemed unfazed by anything Troy had said. There was an almost indescribable tension between the three of them. Troy's expression was actually painful for Sharpay to watch. She so badly wanted to say something and break this awkward tension but what could she do as an assistant? Listen to who you were serving of course, and that would be Princess Gabriella Montez Bolton, who was as silent as ever.

"Gabs?" Troy asked one more time and was ignored one more time.

Ignoring him once again, Gabriella walked towards the bathroom and shut the door behind her, leaving Sharpay and Troy in the room alone.

"Sharpay, what's going on? Why does Gabriella want to go home all of a sudden?" He walked over to stand next to the blonde. "Please talk to me."

"I don't know... your highness. She called me in early in the morning and said we needed to pack. She barely talked to me this morning, she barely even looked at me." Sharpay walked around the room to check for any objects the princess had left behind. She genuinely felt bad for the Princess. She felt bad she always had to deal with the pressures of being Crown Princess but at the same time she couldn't help but feel a bit of envy. The Princess was usually nice to her so she really was fond of Gabriella as her boss. Her previous job as an assistant manager at a four star hotel sounded really cool but truth be told, she was just constantly surrounded by lazy employees and tedious paperwork behind a desk.

Although being a personal assistant sounded like a downgrade, the pay was higher, benefits were better, and her job was overall more adventurous. But there was a tiny part of her that always wondered what it would be like if she became the Crown Princess herself. Troy even said if they hadn't broken up, he would have proposed. What if she was the Princess of Canovia? Would Troy be happier? Would she be happier knowing she ended up with the man she loved the most in her entire life instead of working for his wife?

"I'm going to call Chad and get him to pack all my stuff in super speed. I'm not letting her go back alone." He looked around the room to start organizing his clothes as he held his phone up to his ear. Whatever the issue may be, he was determined to find out.

* * *

She was in the limo again. But this time she wasn't traveling in the limo with Sharpay but with Troy. She usually traveled around in a limo from event to event with Sharpay. Sometimes she would change in the limo while Sharpay read her a summary of her next event to get her ready. But today was different. She was in the limo on the way back from the airport and there was nothing but silence. She wasn't rushing to change into anything and there wasn't Sharpay there to help her with anything. Gabriella looked out the window to find pedestrians on the sidewalk. Funny to think something as common as a pedestrian seemed so far away to her nowadays. She could only dream of walking down the street without being recognized and mobbed.

Troy was sick of it. He was sick of Gabriella's sudden change in mood again. They were fine just last night but now she was being difficult once again. The honeymoon was indeed over. Everything seemed so perfect and of course it all came to an end when she wanted to pack everything and return home this morning. "Gabriella?" He tried one last time. He wanted to give her space but how much space did she really need? It was about time she at least spoke to him a little.

What could she say to him? It wasn't like he could actually help. If anything she was making everything worse and making his life even worse by destroying his already tattered image. She could feel internal shame more than shame put upon her by the rest of Canovia.

"Gabriella, can you stop pretending like I don't exist? I'm your husband and I want to know what's going on! You can't expect me not to question you when you suddenly decided to cut our honeymoon short. Everything was going so well yesterday, I just don't get it."

"I've disappointed my parents. My mom is getting harassed by reporters and my dad thinks I'm a shame to the family. Everything is just fucked up because of me." A weight of a million pounds just dropped down to the ground. Her shoulders relaxed a little as they were tense ever since she ended that phonecall with her father. "I don't know how to fix it. I'm not even helping your case either. You married me for a reason, and I'm not doing a good job at it."

Troy wasn't used to seeing his usually sharp-witted and headstrong wife so beaten up. From the day he married her, he thought she was unbreakable. Even when she was upset, she had a way of being sharp and a way of defending herself. Even when she was insulted by the Queen, she was still walking around with her head held up high. But this time it was different, she didn't speak, she couldn't even let a single mocking statement leave her lips to tell him to shut up or leave her alone. And that was when he knew, she didn't want him to leave her alone. She needed somebody.

"Gabriella…" He could only see the profile and back of her head as she avoided his eyes. She was still staring out the tinted windows, her bottom lip quivering as she bit down onto the flesh. His hand slowly moved towards her thighs and above her small fingers. Her perfect manicured hands under his own felt strange to him. Even after their kisses and even sex, he realized the feeling of her hands felt the most foreign to him.

His hand was warm and wrapped around her entire hand comfortably. Gabriella turned her head to find his blue eyes waiting there, staring into her brown orbs. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to blink them away. She was weak, all she had done since she got married was cry. Why did she let people around her break her down? "My dad called me and said he was embarrassed of me."

His hand tightened around hers before he called out to alert the limo driver in the front. "Sir, can we make a detour and go to West Canovine City? Oak Tree Road?"

She couldn't deny how comforting it was to have his hands around her own. She was a woman that barely needed protection but right now, she would give anything to be protected from the rest of the world and just have someone to be there and understand her emotions. When the world was against her, at least she had his hand around her own. For a short while, she felt like Mrs. Bolton and not the Crown Princess.

"We're going to see your parents."

"Troy, I don't know if that's the best idea… I look like a mess." She freed her hand from his grip and started to rub off the smudged makeup below her waterline.

"You need to talk to your parents. If you put it off, you're just going to mope around and be upset and cry more."

"Troy—"

"You need it, babe." Her stubbornness was back, the headstrong Gabriella he knew was back. The corner of his mouth turned up to form a half smile when she stopped protesting.

* * *

"Your highness, what is the reason for your sudden visit?"

"I thought you were on your honeymoon, your highness!"

"Can I get a quick picture over here?"

"Can you make a statement about the leaked pictures?"

Would it ever be possible to get used to the paparazzi? Before she married into the royal family, she occasionally had paparazzi and reporters trying to get a shot of her during parties and events that she attended with her father. But during all those times, she was never the main attraction. It was always her mother and father who got interviewed and photographed the most. She was simply a boring heiress who inherited a boring company. Although she mingled in high society, nothing about her ever screamed Paris Hilton.

But now, she had her share of annoying photographers that wanted to get a shot of her entering the place she used to call home. She faked a smile at all the photographers as she walked past them with her arms linked underneath her husband's arm. She was the Crown Princess and that meant smile no matter what. The public didn't need to know that she was suffering; the public needed a strong woman as their Crown Princess.

Troy tried his hardest to make his way into the gates of the Montez family home as quickly as possible. The photographers got a warning from the Montez family to stay clear and away from the entrance gate after the incident with Maria Montez.

The path leading up to the front door was paved with stone. There was a fountain in the middle of the front yard that stood a statue of a nymph. Behind the fountain, there were rose bushes planted on the side of the walkway that lead to the wooden French doors of the Montez mansion. It wasn't the royal palace but it was extravagant nonetheless.

The couple took the small steps up the walkway and pressed on the delicate white button that sounded the doorbell. A middle aged man dressed in a suit came up to the door a few seconds later, welcoming to couple inside the home.

"Miss Montez! We have missed you so dearly!" The man leaned in to hug Gabriella.

Clearing his throat, Troy stood awkwardly by their side. The aroma of soft sweet maple scent filled the room.

"Oh, I'm deeply sorry, your royal highness. I should have introduced myself." He turned his attention towards the Prince as he smiled. "My name is Jonathan and I am the Montez family butler. I have been serving the family for over two decades. I got a little carried away seeing Miss Montez, I mean Crown Princess Gabriella Bolton come back for a surprise visit." Jonathan politely nodded his head at Troy to show his respects to a member of the royal family.

Troy smiled back at the tall man in front of him to show his respects back. Following behind Jonathan into the home, Troy could hear his own shoes against the laminated hardwood floors. The perfectly glossed hardwood floors led towards a carpet of double stairs that led up to the second floor. He had been to a fair share of parties and events hosted in mansions but this house was a complete different creature just like Gabriella. It had a distinct scent that he could sometimes get a whiff of in Gabriella's clothes.

Troy watched as the older man led the couple to the living room. The walls were painted a beautiful light red-brown with leather sofas that color-coordinated the curtains and all the décor in the rest of the room. Compared to the royal palace, Gabriella's home was almost just as extravagant but definitely smaller. However, Troy spent most of his time in his own room anyway, so the rest of the palace really wasn't what he called home.

The two sat down on the couch comfortably as Gabriella smiled at the familiar surroundings. Home. Every time she came home from the United States, she always noticed the sweet scent that slowly clung to her clothes, hair, and became a part of her identity again.

"I'm going to have Kendra fix you guys some tea." Jonathan hurried towards the kitchen to alert the house maid, Kendra, at their beloved Miss Montez's return home.

"Where are your parents?" Troy looked around the meticulously decorated room. Soft classical music played dimly through the ceiling speakers. Everything in this house seemed so perfect with the elegant decorations, maids, butlers, and even down to the soft music in the background. The Montezes were always surrounded by such exquisiteness. The exquisite decorations and lifestyle didn't shock Troy. He had seen even wealthier families and been to a bigger and more lavish home, his own assumptions shocked himself. He always thought Gabriella lived in a large single family home with a dog and maybe the occasional housekeeper. Until now.

Her old life wasn't all that different from life in the palace. She still had servants, still had expensive meals, and lavish vacations. So she really did marry him to keep her life from being transformed into a less luxurious equivalent?

"They are probably busy right now. My father is usually busy with work right now and my mother might be out running some errands with my head housekeeper." Her tone of voice was so casual and so native. This was where she belonged and this was the home she was used to.

Troy nodded as he leaned back into the sofa to relax a little.

Jonathan, along with Kendra, returned to the living room with a pitcher of iced tea and two glasses on a tray.

Gabriella dozed off after taking a few sips of the ice cold drink, her head leaned against the armrest of the sofa as Troy sat there almost uncomfortably tapping his foot to the slow-paced classical music.

The vibration triggered by his iPhone buzzed in his pocket as he pulled it out to unlock the screen. A message from Sharpay Evans read, 'Is the Princess okay?'

There was no 'your highness' to conclude the question. Sharpay was speaking to Troy, not Crown Prince Troy Bolton III.

'She's fine. Thanks for asking, Shar. We're just at her parent's home.' Right when he hit send, he could hear footsteps nearing the living room and finally stopping when he caught the sight of the older Montez woman walking towards the couple.

"Your highne—I mean Troy?" The way Maria Montez' lip curved into that bright smile had to be a Montez trait that he had seen in Gabriella as well.

"Hello, Maria." Troy stood up from his seat and flashed her a smile as well.

"I didn't know you guys were visiting..."

Gabriella's eyes fluttered open upon hearing her mother's voice. Her mother, the woman she was thinking and worrying about this whole time was right in front of her. Just hearing her voice made everything a little better. To know she was at least not crying made her feel more content than what her father told her earlier. She smiled at her mother's figure by the doorway and immediately stood up from her seat. "Am I not welcomed home anymore now that I'm married?" She walked towards her mother with open arms, ready for a hug.

"Oh, _mija_..." Maria wrapped her arms around her daughter tightly. "My sweet girl."

The rest of the evening went by with Gabriella helping in the kitchen with that everlasting smile of hers. That was when he knew she had two loves in the world—painting and cooking.

Kendra and one other kitchen maid brought out their plates and drinks. "This is chilled avocado gazpacho and a steak salad with chipotle ranch dressing." She quickly left after a little description of the food.

 _Just like the palace._ Troy thought to himself, except there wasn't a cook, just a kitchen maid who did home-cooking.

Gabriella stabbed her fork into the food and into the juicy meat of the cut up steak pieces. Her father had greeted her with a simple, 'Didn't know you were staying for dinner.' When he got home from work, there was no hug, no 'sweetheart', just a flat and unwelcoming greeting.

She took a bite of the lettuce and meat while glancing over at her father's glass. The dark carbonated liquid created bubbles that floated up top only to dissipate. And the slice of lemon floated atop all of the sugary liquid. Her father's favorite drink was always coke with a lemon but that never helped with his high blood sugar levels.

"Dad, you shouldn't drink coke all the time." Gabriella voiced her concern as her father gave her a side glance.

He didn't say anything back, instead he reached for the glass and brought it closer to his lips to take a big gulp of the drink.

"Kendra!" Gabriella called out as the maid walked back towards the dining room. "I told you not to give Dad any soda. He's already pre-diabetic, he can't have one every night like he used—"

"It's not Kendra's fault." Jorge finally spoke. "Stop blaming things on other people. If I want to have a coke, I'll have a coke."

"I'm not blaming Kendra, I'm just letting her know my wishes since I no longer live here and can't pay attention to little details at home."

"Kendra's doing fine. I don't need you to order her around when you don't even live here anymore."

"This is my home, dad."

"No, the palace is your home, you are part of the royal family now." He set his fork down while he looked up at Gabriella's eyes. His eyes were a darker shade of brown than usual and his attitude was colder than his usual fatherly front. There was still that hint of disappointment in his voice that hadn't seem to have gone away since their phone call earlier. "I hope you never forget that."

"Dad, is this about what we talked about this morning again?" The tension in the room went from family-friendly to family-feud in less than once second. The ice cold stare her father was giving her made everyone else in the room uncomfortable. Kendra quietly backed up and left the dining room while Maria Montez looked over at her son-in-law across the table awkwardly.

"Hey, Troy… I made some bread pudding earlier, do you want to come take a look at the dessert to see if you want some?"

He looked up from his food to find Maria motioning for them to exit the room. The food in his plate was only half eaten and the food on her plate was barely even touched. Troy understood Maria's motion and quickly went into the kitchen with Maria to let the father and daughter finish the intense dinner table conversation.

"Gabriella, why are you here?" The harsh tone in his voice matched the harsh nature of his question.

"I'm here because I'm worried about mom after what you told me this morning. And you told me to come back."

"Your mother loves you and has always been afraid of hurting you and pressuring you. She won't say anything, Gabriella. I saw her crying by herself, she didn't even cry in front of me."

"I know, dad. And I'm here to try to fix things."

"How? Those pictures are out there. When your mom goes grocery shopping she sees them. When I go out into one of our chain stores, I see them by the checkout line. Those magazines are leaking pictures after pictures. What am I going to see from you next? Nude pictures? Sex tape?"

"Dad... I already explained—"

"People outside of our country are calling you the Paris Hilton of Canovia. When I got to work today, I caught my employees passing around a new issue of Canovia Weekly Magazine with pictures of you snorting cocaine and posing with your drugged up friends. This is a disgrace." He was livid and his voice was almost loud enough cause the floor to rumble. This was her father. The father she looked up to and sacrificed for to save his company. But of course nothing she did ever mattered. She was a disgrace because of her old partying pictures. She was a disgrace for things she didn't intend.

Tears welled up in her eyes again for maybe the hundredth time today. Being Crown Princess had done nothing but tax her emotions. She was tired of it all, tired of being judged and being insulted. All the pressure she had to live with everyday outweighed all the appreciation and fan sites. She never asked to be Crown Princess and never asked to have these pictures of herself be released.

"The only mistake I've ever made in my life was letting you study overseas and then believing you were mature enough to be Crown Princess of our country. I should have never even mentioned anything about the company failing and never offered you for marriage." Jorge continued. "I'd rather sell this damn house and all my sports cars to save the company than have a daughter that disgraces the country."

He said it. He said everything she felt but only imagined how it would actually sound. And the sound of it was much worse than she imagined. From her belly button piercing to every tattoo she ever had, her father never approved and now that there were pictures of her circulating, what did she expect? He was the CEO of one of the biggest companies in Canovia, he was a man of power, how could he have a daughter who was now being called a drugged up heiress who married an ex-party boy Crown Prince?

If she could take back those nights she snorted a line, smoked a joint, or posed with a red Solo cup next to one of her drugged up friends, she would. But she couldn't turn back time.

And in that moment, all she wanted to be was Gabriella Montez, plain old Gabriella Montez who still had passion for art and lived in NYC.

She wanted to be the carefree Gabriella that she barely even remembered anymore.

* * *

 _ **Hopefully this chapter wasn't too similar to the last one, and I hope you guys liked it! Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought!**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

After leaving her parent's home after the heated dinner conversation two nights ago, Gabriella was basically shunned by the Queen and almost seemed invisible to the King. Troy tried his best to comfort his miserable wife but was only receiving bland reactions of a faked smile. They slept in the same bed, but he barely touched her without Gabriella shifting away from him. He would wake up to an empty spot next to him and be informed that Gabriella already started her day and left the Palace to sort out some affairs. She would return home later than usual and say a simple 'goodnight' before heading to bed and leaving him unsatisfied and curious on her current emotions.

Gabriella met with the royal family publicist after the non-stop talk of her infamous partying pictures. Every time she turned on the TV, there was a segment on her pictures and her lack of comment on the release of these scandalous pictures. Today was finally the day for her to finally make a comment.

She had her little speech typed up and was ready for any unexpected questions during this press conference.

"Ready, your highness?" Sharpay took the water bottle from Gabriella's hands. She was about to step up and finally speak on the pictures that were haunting her and taunting with her reputation.

"I have to be." The brunette walked off and up the stairs to the little stage. The podium stood in the middle of stage and Gabriella could feel her legs weakening every step she took to stand behind it.

"Good afternoon." She started. There was a lump in her throat that almost made her want to gag, as if the speech she prepared was stuck. The flashing cameras projected white light right into her already nervous eyes to steal the last bit of confidence left in her. To say she was scared was an understatement, she was terrified. All the journalists and elites were sitting there already judging her every day based on the articles they read in magazines, and at this moment, she couldn't mess up or else they would only judge her more.

Gabriella took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing her speech. "I am here today to address the pictures that have surfaced all over Canovia. The pictures that were meant to be private and the pictures I never intended to represent as the icon and image of Canovian people. As your newly crowned Princess of Canovia, I feel deeply sorry for all the disappointment and shame I have brought to my country and my people. In no way do I promote drug use in the slightest bit. This is a mistake that I would not excuse for and will work my hardest to redeem my respect from all of you."

The sounds of the flashing cameras continued and only multiplied as the speech went on. "To gain the respect and love from my beloved Canovian people again, I will be holding a modern art auction where all proceeds go to our education on anti-drug use and to build new clinics to treat drug and alcohol abuse. Many well-known modern artists and art collectors have gotten involved in this fundraising auction and have donated expensive artworks."

The press conference continued with some questions from selected journalists and more flashing cameras as she gave answer after answer. For the past week, Gabriella had been working with artists and collectors to help with the fundraiser. She went from one place to another and basically breaking in the limo with Sharpay after meeting different people.

She even called up old friends in Manhattan who might have had connections in the United States to get some artworks shipped to Canovia for the auction. She did everything she could to hold the perfect event. As much as she genuinely wanted to help the anti-drug campaign, she also needed to make sure the photographers and journalists invited took good shots and wrote positive articles about the event.

"The press conference went really well, your highness." Sharpay smiled at Gabriella as she handed her a bottle of water.

"I would like to think so." Her small sip of water turned into a huge gulp. The water entering her system right now was not nearly enough to replenish the sweat and fright she just had up behind that podium.

* * *

"Are you ready to go?" Troy's black suit and tie transformed him to Prince charming like in the Disney movies. His hair was slicked back and his eyes were piercing blue as always. He watched as Gabriella grabbed the black clutch her stylist left on the chair earlier to match with her gold hip hugging gown.

The dress had halter straps that led to the neckline of the dress to dip low between her petite breasts. Her hair was straightened and pulled into a sleek side ponytail. A small tiara rested on her head to show her status while Troy had a pin on his suit to remind everyone of their royal status.

The couple walked out of their room and down the long hallway towards the ballroom on the other side of the palace.

Troy watched her press conference on his phone a few days ago while he was in the limo with Chad. He was on his way back from a charity event at a children's hospital so he couldn't make it to the actual event. Gabriella didn't say anything to him afterwards. She wasn't even fazed by his failure of attendance. Ever since they got back from her parent's home, she had been scarily quiet as if she was mourning for the loss of self.

There was no bickering, no 'I hate you', no kisses, no nothing from the usually expressive Gabriella Montez Bolton.

"You'll do great, Gabriella." He smiled down at her while he offered his arm.

"Thank you." She looked up at Troy to deflect a smile as well.

The door inside the ballroom was in front of them. Around the French doors stood two bodyguards who escorted the couple inside. Gabriella slipped her hand underneath Troy's arm as the royal couple made their entrance.

They stopped eating, stopped drinking, and stopped talking, all to look at the royal couple make their entrance.

Troy and Gabriella made their way up the small yet elegant stage of the room as a staff member handed her a mic. Hundreds of guests were packed in the room tonight and hundreds of pairs of eyes were staring at her the moment she walked in. And it was time to set Gabriella Montez aside, and time to turn the switch on for Crown Princess Gabriella Rosalina Montez Bolton.

"Thank you all for attending tonight." Gabriella smiled at the audience full of artists, wealthy art collectors, politicians, and business owners. "As our nation's Crown Princess, I am proud to be able to make a difference in our country starting with teens and those who fell victim to drug abuse. All of the artwork here tonight is donated to us by our kindhearted art collectors and created by our very own modern artists. All of the proceeds go directly into the cause to help anti-drug abuse education and treatment facilities."

He tried his best to keep a smile on his face towards the audience with an occasional glance at Gabriella. Suddenly, he felt like an idiot for his lack of help in the situation. She planned this whole auction alone with Sharpay, she faced the press alone, she met with all these people alone. He was too busy and invested in his own affairs to even be by her side through all this. The Queen advised him not to say anything on the matter of Gabriella's scandalous pictures and their publicist decided it was best for Gabriella to handle the situation by herself to show her sincerity. But Troy couldn't help but feel guilty for not fulfilling his duties as a husband, all he did was show up at the auction and pick out his best suit.

And here he was, standing next to a woman who was being hated by the press and half of the Canovian population but still standing up on stage with her million dollar smile and her diamond studded tiara to show her best face and give her best voice to the audience.

Photographers and journalists snapped pictures as Gabriella continued to thank her special guests and introduce some of the main contributors of the event on stage. After some pictures and handshakes, Troy and Gabriella said their thank yous and headed off the stage.

The royal couple was served with champagne as they seated in the front row of the stage.

"You look beautiful tonight." Troy whispered into Gabriella's ear, her diamond earring twinkling in the lit room.

"You're not so bad yourself." She said with a smile on her face as she faced the stage. His whisper ticked her earlobes and caused her heart to beat even faster than her already nervous state. It was the first time he complimented her after their honeymoon and she almost forgot how great it was to hear sweet words roll of his tongue.

The night has been successful so far with artworks auctioning off for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The last piece of artwork being auctioned is a piece created by one of the most popular contemporary Canovian artist. As one of the workers carefully revealed the canvas that was protected underneath a thick white cloth, Gabriella could see the beautiful strokes on the canvas to create a beautiful portrait of Queen Lucille, her mother in law and current Queen of Canovia. The tiara on her head and the reddish brown curls that streamed from her neck to her shoulders. Her dress was modest yet elegant and her facial features were natural yet sharp. From her half smile to her perfectly drawn and threaded slightly arched eyebrow, this portrait was everything a Queen should be and everything Gabriella wished to be.

The audience gasped at the beauty of the artwork and all the colors and techniques used to create a realistic yet original portrait of Queen Lucille.

Could Gabriella ever be a Queen like this? A Queen who was admired by her people and a Queen so beautiful that a portrait only accentuated her real beauty? Queen Lucille wasn't the most gorgeous woman Gabriella had ever seen, there were movie stars and musicians that had a face more attractive. But being a royal wasn't about the face, it was about grace and elegance—in which Gabriella lacked.

"This piece is titled 'The Lucy Days,'" The man on stage read from his notecards and into the mic. "It was painted by famous Canovian artist Elton Murphy in 1985, a year after Queen Lucille was crowned as Princess. This piece was donated to us by an art collector from Canovine City who wished to remain anonymous."

The Queen was not much older than she was when she was crowned as Princess. But her smile was so confident and so vibrant. If only she could smile like that and be adored by her people.

Troy smiled at the sight of his young mother. His mother was always stern about his schooling, his eating habits, and even his marriage. It broke her heart to see all the negative press on him after his return from college. When he was a child, his mother was always warm towards him but strict about the things that affected his reputation and his title. She loved him like any mother would and always smiled like a Queen for everyone.

"We will start the bid at ten thousand."

"Fifty thousand!"

"Eighty thousand."

"Eighty eight thousand!"

"A hundred ninety thousand."

"Wow, people really want to hang a picture of my mother's face in their home or something?" Troy chuckled under his breath.

"Your mother is also the Queen of Canovia." She rolled her eyes playfully as she let out a small giggle.

The biddings continued to increase and Gabriella could feel a smile growing on her face uncontrollably. This art auction was definitely going to be a success and one of the first successes as Crown Princess so far.

Troy watched as Gabriella's smile slowly spread on her lips. "We should celebrate this success tonight by drinking some wine and possibly some romantic music and maybe even a funny movie?" He dared to ask. She hadn't been the warmest since their return but he had to try to get his wife's attention once again.

"I like scary movies more." Gabriella looked at her husband with that bubbly smile of hers. The Gabriella Montez smile plastered on her face as she switched into Gabriella mode and out of Crown Princess mode for a second.

"How about I find us a scary comedy?" He leaned into her ear and whispered with a chuckle. Her scent radiated off her hair and caused Troy's brain to turn into mud and a shiver ran down her spine as he spotted her grin.

"I can live with a compromise." It was finally great to spend some time with Troy after the pressure of planning this art auction. To say she didn't miss Troy was a cop out, she missed their little bickers and their little moments where he kissed her softly. Although they shared the same bed every night, she felt distant from him for the past week. She woke up early every morning to plan the auction and meet up with collectors and he would be out doing his usual charity events and making appearances at different public events and interviews.

"Five hundred Thousand!"

"Eight hundred thousand."

"One million!"

"One million two hundred."

"Five million five hundred and fifty five thousand."

The audience gasped as they looked back to find a man in the back stand up. He was of average height and his voice sounded louder than anyone's in the room.

Everyone grew silent after his high bid while the man on stage spoke into the mic again. "Going once… going twice… sold to Mr. Ryan Evans."

Gabriella watched as the man in the back grinned widely after dropping a six million on a portrait of the Queen. His face was familiar but only in the context of a magazine article. He was always featured in all the art magazines as one of the top art collectors and gallery owners of Canovia. Ryan Evans was well-known in the modern art world as a smart investor and also an owner of many galleries that showcased rising young artists.

The audience clapped for the new owner of the most expensive piece of artwork sold here tonight. Most of these pieces were sold from five hundred thousand to two million. The profits tonight was a lot for a small auction and hugely successful for the profits of her project on anti-drug education.

Flashes of the cameras went off as Ryan Evans handed the man on the stage his check.

"Shit." Troy cursed under his breath the moment he saw Ryan's face up on stage.

"What's wrong?" Gabriella looked over at her husband who seemed suddenly out of the loop and disconnected from all the people clapping at the most expensive artwork sold tonight.

"Nothing I just felt some pain in my stomach. I think I'm drinking too much champagne." He set down the glass onto the tray next to his chair while a servant brought it away.

"Save your stomach for some wine later, remember?" Her smile turned into a smirk and he tried his best to smile back at his irresistible wife while his brain was going crazy. Ryan Evans was one of the only other people in the world who knew about his relationship with Sharpay. He could remember it like yesterday when Troy got angry at Sharpay for telling her own brother about their relationship.

Just when he thought he had left all that behind in London, not only does Sharpay enter his life again, but so does Ryan Evans.

He could feel his throat going dry and his stomach turning. He felt sick and anxiety knowing how easy it was for his past to creep up on him again and how easy it was for Gabriella to actually find out about his past with Sharpay.

Should he tell her? It should be done sooner rather than later. If Gabriella found out through someone else, he could be accused of lying and cheating for not mentioning anything about it despite Sharpay being her personal assistant.

Maybe tonight was the night to finally come clean about his relationship with Sharpay before anyone gave her the dirty details of their past.

* * *

"Thank you so much for coming." Gabriella stood by the door as she shook the hands and made small talks with some of the donors and artists.

"This auction was amazing, all the artworks were stunning, your highness" The CEO of the biggest fast food chain in Canovia shook her hand in thanks.

"Thank you. Have a good night!"

Gabriella popped open her clutch to check the time on her phone. Troy decided to retreat back to their quarters because he claimed he was feeling a little unwell but promised that movie and wine was still on after he took a hot shower. As much as she would have loved for Troy to be here and shake all these hands of different prominent and wealthy people she let him go for the night knowing they had time to celebrate after this was all over.

"Hello, your highness." She heard a coming from the far corners of the ballroom but coming closer towards her. The voice was sharp and his smile slowly appeared on his face, the same smile he showed to hand out the biggest check written here tonight.

"Oh… hello there. Mr. Ryan Evans?"

"Yes, your royal highness. That's me."

"I know you, Mr. Evans. I'm an artist myself and I've seen you in some magazines. You have quite the eye for art." She held out her hand to shake his. "Aside from being Crown Princess of Canovia, I am also Gabriella Montez Bolton who used to paint a lot more than I do now."

"Your highness, I don't mean to sound pretentious but I want you to know that I've known you since you were a twenty year old Art student in Manhattan." He shook her hand firmly and confidently before letting go.

"Excuse me?" How could he know her when all she knew of him was from a magazine?

"As you may know, I love to invest in young artists and always have an eye for the modern art created by new artists. I have bought some of your art before and I actually have a gallery in Manhattan. You had quite the name in small hipster galleries, your highness."

It was rare to find someone who appreciated her as Gabriella Montez the artist, rather than Gabriella Montez, the daughter of Jorge Montez, or Gabriella Montez Bolton the Crown Princess of Canovia. To know that someone out there as successful as Ryan Evans actually knew of her art was greater than any compliment she heard in her life. "Wow… thank you so much. Believe it or not, it's just so wonderful to hear such a refreshing compliment."

"It's my pleasure, your highness." He was a sharp-witted man and a man who knew how to succeed in the art business. He was a man that she would try to impress if she still lived in Manhattan and still made art.

"I bought some of your pieces before and my favorite was 'Box Brain'."

Gabriella smiled as she recalled that piece she put together using magazine cut outs and oil color to create a brain that was trapped inside a cardboard box. She thought of that five minutes before actually starting to put it together and finished that piece a few months later. It was a thoughtless piece that seemed to speak so many words to Ryan.

"It's a really cool piece of artwork. I never thought of boxes or brains in that way before." He chuckled a little.

"Thank you, Mr. Evans."

"I was wondering if you still made any art? I would love to help show them at my galleries. I know as Princess, you probably have no problem finding a place to showcase your art but it would be amazing if I can showcase some of your newer works, your highness."

The last time she painted was that day in the garden. And that was the last time she had time to really think for herself. Her hands suddenly ached and longed for that paintbrush and the easel. Gabriella Montez the artist was alive again. "I haven't done much in terms of art since I had the royal wedding, but I do have a lot of older pieces that didn't sell or ones that I didn't even try to sell. I put them away in the storage on the other side of the palace and really haven't had time to look at them."

"That's a shame to your wonderful art. As an admirer, I could only dream to actually take a look at all of them, your highness."

"Well then I guess tonight would be a dream come true for you them, Mr. Evans." Gabriella let out a small laugh before walking towards the French doors. "Follow me as I show you my very own gallery in the storage room."

And her inner ache for art was alive again, the fire that couldn't ignite after she fell into the busy schedules of being a royal and having someone to appreciate her work of art made her feel human again.

* * *

 _ **These last few chapters have focused more on Gabriella hopefully it's not too redundant! More troyella will be coming I promise ;) let me know what you guys thought in the reviews! Thanks for reading!**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

The big letters hung lowly across the cabinets in the kitchen as Sharpay walked into the luxurious uptown condo. The big letters read "Welcome home, Ryan!" in bubble letters and laminated colored paper. Today was Sharpay's day off of the week and it happened to fall on a weekend which made everything all the better for her family. Her brother, Ryan Evans, just returned home after a year of traveling.

Sharpay held onto the tissue paper stuffed bag that held an Omega Swiss watch inside. She basically spent more than half of her monthly salary on this watch even though it was not nearly as impressive as Ryan's Rolex watch collection. She walked around the kitchen to find a people walking around and taking the little pastries prepared and all the wine cups filled with champagne.

She was late to the party because of a work related call. Apparently the Princess forgot about the wardrobe choices she prepared for her and needed her assistance to find the matching shoes to her dress for her dinner with the Italian Diplomat tonight.

All the people attending Ryan's party were people Sharpay weren't familiar with. Besides members of her family, all his friends wore suits and had trophy wives with lip injections. And here she was in a casual knee-length light pink dress and her twenty dollar white wedges holding a gift that could send her to bankruptcy but not nearly as expensive as all the other gifts placed underneath the fireplace mantel.

She quickly grabbed a glass of champagne as she walked out of the kitchen to look for familiar faces. When she stepped foot into the living room, she was greeted by her mother who immediately came up to squeeze her into a tight hug.

"Shar!" Her mother kissed the side of her head and smiled as she pulled away from the hug. "Your brother's been looking for you! You finally came!"

"Yes, mom. I'm here. Where's Ryan?"

"He's showing his friends the painting he recently bought at the palace art auction. All his money went to charity and the painting is so beautiful. He's planning on selling it again at an upcoming auction." Sharpay's mother always smiled whenever they talked about Ryan. Ryan was the golden child of the family and Sharpay would forever live in the shadows of her prodigy of a brother. He started as an Art major at a local university but then became an investor in art and was now buying and selling expensive artworks, making millions at a time. He was a suburban and average white Canovian turned millionaire while Sharpay would always just be average.

"I know about this auction. I work for the Princess remember, mom?"

"Of course, sweetie. I'm just saying. Your brother is so bright. You should drop that shoe-licking job of yours and help him out. He's making millions at a time, not just thousands."

"Mom, I like what I do. I don't need to follow my older brother's footsteps all the time. I'm happy with what I do." She hated name-dropping her brother. Whenever she told others she was Ryan Evan's sister, people failed to see Sharpay and only saw her as Ryan's sister.

"Assistant is just a euphemism for a servant, especially for our Princess who seems like a total diva from what they write in all these magazines."

"Mom, can we not talk about this?" Sharpay rolled hers eyes with a sigh. She distanced herself from her mother to walk towards the room where Ryan stored books and various things related to his field of work. The room had cases after cases of books along the wall and different paintings framed on the walls as well. At the moment, it was packed with people crowded around the corner, admiring the new artwork Ryan invested in.

And behind the sea of people, there stood the brother she loved and hated so much, explaining his plans to auction off the artwork again in two weeks.

When Ryan spotted his sister standing in the far corner of the room, he excused himself from his guests and approached her with a smile on his face. "Sharpay…" His smile turned into a full grin when he pulled her in for a hug.

After they pulled away, Sharpay handed him the expensive gift bag and he accepted it with another big hug. Ryan had humble beginnings and those beginnings always involved Sharpay. They were best of friends during childhood, but as his career brought him to new heights, their relationship dipped into lows.

"How was America?" She asked her brother when they finally calmed down from the hugging and stood next to each other against the bookcase.

"It was fantastic as usual, beautiful art, big business. And France was also fantastic. I had a blast meeting investors and drinking the best champagne in the world." He nodded at the fond memories of his traveling experiences before switching the topic from himself to Sharpay. "Mom told me you got a new job. Quit the hotel business?"

"Yeah. Hotels are actually pretty boring and my boss wouldn't give me a raise. So I decided to find a new job that paid better and had better benefits and most importantly gave me some challenges and is interesting."

"Does your challenge involve a man?" Ryan asked slyly as he raised an eyebrow.

"What are you implying, Ryan?" The mood of the conversation shifted from a casual conversation between siblings to an eerie sense of approaching a sensitive topic. Sharpay sipped on the glass of alcohol to avoid eye contact with Ryan as his eyes almost burned her like laser.

"Come on, sis... you can't possibly tell me you're working for the Crown Princess because you just wanted an exciting job. There are many exciting jobs on the market and you are highly capable of holding all of them."

"Ryan, Troy and I have been over since the day he left London."

"Really now?" He smirked at his sister as if he read the deeper guilty conscious of her mind.

Her intentions were never bad, she truly enjoyed the Princess as a person and her job was interesting. She loved it more than working at a hotel that was for sure.

She continued to sip on the champagne while afraid of her own brother staring into her eyes too deeply to find out how guilty she was of thinking about Troy with the slightest bit of hope.

He reached out to hold the glass in his hands, peeling away the only thing she could find refuge in as Ryan started to grill her about her new job. He set the glass of fizzy alcohol down on one of the shelves of the book case. "I can read you, Shar. You have that slight bit of hope in the back of your mind and I can sense it the moment mom told me you started working for Princess Gabriella. You and Troy broke off on such an odd note. You left him because you felt overwhelmed and he didn't chase after you because he thought you wanted an out in the secret relationship. It all ended on such bumpy terms."

"Ryan…"

"Sharpay." He continued. "I'm not going to deny it. Princess Gabriella is phenomenal. She showed me her art works after the art auction and I've never seen such creativity in other young artists before. On top of that, she's the Crown Princess, I think if I play my cards right and provide my expertise, I can maybe open up a gallery to display her art."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it's another money making and talent blossoming outlet. The Princess loves art and would probably love to display her art somehow. And I can make a profit out of that and also land me some connections with politicians and other famous names. It's a win-win for me and for everyone involved."

"Of course. My genius brother always helps humanity and makes money at the same time." Sharpay rolled her eyes as she flashed him a half grin. Her brother was smart and could read people like an open book. That was something she admired about him. It was no doubt that he was the golden child of the family.

"Just remember, don't let a second chance walk by you again, sis. Grab onto things you want and that's how you succeed in life."

Those words echoed inside of her mind. A word of advice from Ryan always engrained itself inside her head and this wasn't an exception.

* * *

"It is so wonderful to finally meet the famous Prince and Princess of Canovia." The man sitting across from Troy and Gabriella said as the plates of food were served on the wooden dining table in the private room of a high-end Italian restaurant. "Canovia is beautiful and the weather is always so beautiful, almost as beautiful as you, your highness."

Gabriella smiled at the Italian Diplomat sitting across from them while twirling her spaghetti on her fork. "Thank you so much, Mr. Ricci. I am so glad to have a friend from Italy who admires our beautiful country." The diplomat and his wife, two daughters, and a son sat on across from the royal couple. The children politely ate their own entrees and kept silent as Mr. and Mrs. Ricci laughed and smiled robotically at the younger couple.

She was slowly getting used to smiling systematically and making the same types of conversations with different politicians at banquets and dinners. It wasn't hard to smile or listen to a stranger talk about various topics, but it was hard when your husband wouldn't stop giving you a glare every two seconds.

Troy sipped on the glass of sparkling juice in front of him before taking another bite of his stuffed eggplant.

She didn't think Troy would react so badly the moment she told him she was just showing Ryan her art last night. They were supposed to spend the night together celebrating but instead she ended up talking about art with a man she just met until three in the morning. He waited up for her but only got more furious when she found out Ryan was the reason why she missed out on their post-auction arrangements.

"I heard the art auction you held was a success, I truly admire your courage as a woman who takes matters into her own hands. That is what makes a woman most beautiful, your highness." Mrs. Ricci smiled at Gabriella as she gave her another one of their scripted compliments.

"Well, Mrs. Ricci, behind every beautiful woman there is always a man that keeps her confident. Am I right, Troy?" She lightly nudged Troy for a supporting answer, causing him to completely miss his mouth while drinking the liquid, the dark colored juice spilling all over his new suit.

Mrs. Ricci gasped as the liquid dripped off the table and all over his suit jacket. His glare now more piercing on Gabriella while she looked away in embarrassment. Upsetting him more was not her intention, if anything she was trying to get him to talk more and not act like something was wrong in their relationship in front of a diplomat.

"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Ricci." He quickly got up from his seat and walked quickly out of the private room and towards the bathrooms down the hall.

Gabriella immediately stood up from her seat as well, feeling guilty for ruining his suit and also for making the situation worse between them. She stopped one of their two bodyguards from following behind, knowing she had to deal with this alone. She walked down the hallway and stopped Troy before he slammed the bathroom door in her face. She slid her slim body through the little crack of the door and immediately grabbed some paper towels and wetted it in the sink. "You have to dab it with water immediately or else you can never get the stain out."

He watched as she wiped the gray suit jacket tenderly. He could tell she truly felt bad for causing the accident but he couldn't give into her soft actions. No matter what, he still felt uneasy that she literally forgot about him because she was spending time with Ryan Evans. Although it seemed like Ryan didn't say anything to her that he feared she would find out, the thought still troubled him.

"You're a natural." He said to her in almost a whisper. She was standing directly in front of him and her hand was up by his chest wiping the stain from his chest down to the hemline of his jacket.

"A natural at what?"

"A natural at making people love you and smiling no matter what. People are drawn to you and other men are drawn to you." Other men meaning Ryan Evans in his mind.

"I get it now…" She smirked up at him before tossing the paper towel behind her and into a trash bin. She turned her attention back at Troy and looked up into his blue orbs. "You're jealous. You think Ryan had a thing for me."

"A thing for you? You're the Princess of Canovia and everyone knows you're my wife. He wouldn't dare."

"I already apologized. I got carried away, it's been a while people cared about my art. Why are you acting like this?"

"I just don't want people to get the wrong idea. What if the tabloids write about you going off with another man?" He was making excuse after excuse to hide his inner unease. How could he possibly tell her to stay away from Ryan without telling her that he'd been hiding the truth of Sharpay the whole time?

"That's ridiculous, Troy." She shook her head at him in disappointment. Of course like all men, he couldn't just admit he was merely jealous but had to make excuses to save his own ego. Was it so wrong to want to be desired? Her eyes were locked on his and his eyes looked even bluer than the ocean in contrast to the gray suit he was wearing. There was something mysterious behind his eyes, a wall held up that she wanted to break just to hear him tell her she was jealous. She wanted to see the Prince like a human, the same human instincts he had in the kitchen in that very hotel suite.

Troy bit his lip nervously as she kept her gaze locked on his. Her hands were pressed against his chest again and he saw the vulnerability in her eyes again. His lips parted slightly, letting a single word slip through. "Jealousy."

"So you admit it?" The corner of her lips lifted into a smirk and a small giggle escaped her lips.

"I want you to be mine and mine only. Ever since the morning you kissed me, I wanted you to be mine only and I'll be yours only."

Gabriella's eyes widened slightly at his statement. The man of few words, the man that was a master at playing the silent game whenever he was bothered by something said too many words for her to handle. Every single word in that sentence etched into her brain and it was still incomprehensible to her ear.

Her lips curved into a shy but wide smile before leaning in to kiss his lips tenderly. His hand slipped down to grip onto the fabric her conservative white pencil skirt. The sleeves of the pastel yellow blouse she wore brushed against the back of Troy's neck when her hands snaked up to run his fingers through the hair on the back of his head.

She pulled her lips away from his and trailed her kisses down his chin and over the razor stubble and all the way towards his earlobe. She bit onto the little flesh on his earlobe softly before whispering. "You're jealous." Her soft giggle sent signals into the pleasure chest of his brain. He almost forgot how irresistible his wife could be until he heard her soft giggle.

"Am not." His lips curved into a smile again as all the thoughts he had of Ryan Evans and all the unease of his body seeped out of his body the moment she captured his undivided attention in a kiss.

"Uh huh…" Her hands trailed down his chest and onto one of the buttons of his jacket, unbuttoning one at a time until he reached the last button close to the waistband of his trousers. She leaned her head in against his ear again while her hands dipped right into the waistband of his pants and right into his boxers, touching his already bulging member.

He let a small moan escape his lips while his eyes rolled to the back with pleasure. He wanted her in her full glory but didn't expect she would daringly proceed here. He wanted to lose his mind knowing he could have her right here in this restaurant and in this enclosed bathroom.

Gabriella lightly ran her fingers up the curve of the base and up to the tip where her index finger rubbed against the tip, feeling stickiness and a preview of what was to come. Using her other hand, she almost ripped off the button and quickly unzipped his pants, letting the rest of the cloth drop down to his polished Italian leather shoes.

The cold air hit his area down below while the warmth of her strokes sent conflicting stimulations of pleasure into his brain. He backed up against the tiled walls as she moved with him. She gave him one last tender kiss before detaching her lips from his to attach them onto a much more desired location.

She never begged in her life for anything. She was an heiress after all, she didn't need to get on her knees for anything… anything but this moment right now. Her white pencil skirt was hiked up her thighs and her sheer lip gloss was almost just as sticky as the clear liquid erupting from the tip.

"Shit, Gabriella… are you crazy?" He managed to breathe out. Of course during a moment like this, he could only ask if his wife was crazy, giving her the possibility to stop the pleasuring acts. He cursed himself for asking such a stupid question while his mind was going crazy with all the pleasure and their surroundings only made this more stimulating.

Her lips wrapped around his thick shaft and her head scooted closer to his body and then farther back again to create a rhythm he could kill for.

The smacking noises of her lips filled the room and acted as a background noise from Troy's sporadic moans and groans of pleasure.

Gabriella detached her lips and extended her tongue out to lick from the base all the way to the tip while her eyes stared up at him in the most innocent way possible. Her lips curved into a smirk before wrapping that smirk around his member again.

He looked down to see her moving her head in a heavenly rhythm while her eyes locked onto his. The sight of her in a conservative long sleeve blouse and pencil skirt while on her knees in a bathroom during the dinner with a diplomat only excited him more. He could feel waves of pleasure crashing in the pit of his stomach and then up to his head. He could barely keep his eyes open as he let out one last grunt, his load spilling into her mouth.

She licked around her lips as she swallowed all of him. Her glossed lips now covered with the remains of their sexual escapade.

Troy's eyes fluttered open again to find Gabriella now standing up and wiping her lips with her palm while adjusting her appearance. He quickly lifted his pants back up and buttoned his jacket again.

The silence in the room only made the tension alive again even after their act. He smiled at the backside of his wife as she looked into the mirror and fixed her hair. She was full of surprises as always. Her tattoos and belly button ring completely hidden in that conservative outfit but only he knew how erotic she can be.

He snaked his arms around her waist and held her against him for a short moment, feeling her backside fit right against him.

Her breath was hitched in her throat when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her like that time in the kitchen, except she didn't want to squirm out of them this time. She closed her eyes as she felt him place a soft kiss on her cheek. "Next time, I'll show you." He whispered into her ear.

The couple pulled away from each other and twisted the doorknob, opening to door to the outside world again. Troy's hands found its way to Gabriella's, he gripped onto them firmly the moment their skin touched and laced his fingers through hers.

She could feel her heart beat racing once again, the little act of his fingers through hers made her skin form goosebumps. His unexpected gesture possibly affected her more than their sexual acts.

Gabriella squeezed his hand back in return as they made their way back into the private room with the diplomat.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Ricci. Dark stains are a little hard to get out." Troy immediately hid any remnants of her sexually deviant tone to become the Prince he deemed to be again.

"Oh don't worry about it, your royal highness." The diplomat took a sip of his drink and smiled at them.

"So who's ready for some dessert?" Mrs. Ricci clapped her hands together excitedly while she looked over to her kids who sat on both sides of her.

Troy glanced at Gabriella with a half smirk on his face as he leaned into her ear for a quick whisper. "I thought you already had dessert?"

Gabriella was about to take a sip of her drink but her husband's suggestive comment caused her to almost choke in shock and embarrassment at once. Her husband, the Prince of Canovia, had two major weaknesses—cheesy jokes and _her_.

* * *

 ** _Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts :)_**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"You're gonna be okay without me?" Troy asked with a chuckle as he walked into the office area of their bedroom. For the past few days, Gabriella had been painting during her spare time. He would see her different scrapped creations on the floor whenever he walked in the room. Things in the tabloids seemed to have died down since the successful auction.

"Elections for the Prime Minister is coming up, I'm jealous you get to eat with these potential candidates." She smiled at her husband while looking up from the canvas she was working on. The back of the painting was facing Troy in an attempt to hide what she was currently working on. Her newest inspiration came from Troy and she was working on an abstract portrait of her own husband. She didn't want him to see it until it was finished.

Sharpay advised the Princess to take some time off after the auction since it was such a success, she deserved some time for herself. And Gabriella couldn't agree anymore.

"Don't miss me too much." He winked at her wife who was hidden behind the easel. A paintbrush in her hand and her hair tied up in a messy bun, he almost melted at her casual look, seducing him with just her natural look.

Gabriella gave Troy her famous eye roll and returned her attention to the painting. "Have fun, babe."

He exited the bedroom after adjusting his tie. When Gabriella heard the door slam shut, she stretched her arms as she admired her progress on the painting. She had only outlined everything, there wasn't any color yet but she could see the familiar outline of his jaw, making her smile at the resemblance.

She had her tubes of paint ready but was running low on one of the primary colors. She needed a new tube of red paint. Reaching her hand into her jean pocket, she took out her phone to dial the most frequently dialed number on her phone. Before she hit the call button next to Sharpay's name, she suddenly held back.

She already let Sharpay go for the night, _was it really necessary to call her back just for a tube of paint?_ She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and walked away from the easel. Just because she was the princess didn't mean she couldn't run a quick errand by herself. She quickly grabbed her car keys. An Italian sports car was one of the many wedding gifts she received from the various members of the royal family. Although she got the car as a gift over two months ago, she had yet to drive it even once. Everywhere she went she had a driver and Sharpay by her side.

It was time to finally experience life as Crown Princess on her own. She needed to be less dependent on all the luxuries of a privileged life. Gabriella walked out of the room and down the hall towards the palace garage. There were multiple sports car and multiple limos just sitting in the garage and waiting for a drive.

When she unlocked her own car, she immediately jumped in and backed up out of the garage before a bodyguard noticed her. Freedom was what she felt again. This was like when she walked down the street in Manhattan with a cup of coffee. This was what freedom felt like. No driver, no assistants, no husband, no reporters. It felt like pure freedom.

When she arrived at the art supply store, she parked her car and put her sunglasses and her hat on, hopefully no one could recognize the Princess when she was dressed down and in shades.

The store employees greeted her with a small smile and a welcome when she started to look at the signs in front of each isle. _Paint, oil pastels, and colored pencils on isle seven._

Quickly, Gabriella made her down the isle and into the shades of red paint. Lost in the shades of various reds and pinks, a man of average height and blonde hair walked up behind her to tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me ma'am."

Gabriella was startled by the sudden human contact and jerked forward before turning around to find a familiar pair of eyes staring right back at her. "Mr. Evans?"

Ryan flashed his smile at Gabriella and nodded. "Call me Ryan please, your highness. And sorry for scaring you like that."

Gabriella nodded with a smile and returned her attention on choosing the correct brand of oil paint.

Suddenly Troy's words flooded into her mind. What if her presence around Ryan caused another scandal. He might have been jealous but he had a point. Her picture scandal was still up in the air and the art auction only momentarily distracted the public.

"Did you run out of paint supplies, your highness?" He broke the short silence between them.

"I did indeed." She answered her friend. "But I think I found just the right red."

Ryan watched as the Princess picked up a tube of red paint. She seemed less interested and more distant than the last time they spoke. He thought he had the cat in the bag and prepared perfectly for his next big investment. But his royal investment seemed highly uninterested at the moment. "Have you been working on a new piece, your royal highness?"

"Yes, I have." She replied shortly. She barely knew Ryan Evans and only talked to him for four short hours. What if his motive of talking to her was to create a scandal to sell to the tabloids?

"I would like to buy it." He cleared his throat before adding the honorific. "Your highness."

"Mr—I mean Ryan, you haven't even seen the finished product yet." She couldn't believe her ears. She was known for her title as Princess, not for being an artist. How could he just promise to buy a piece of artwork he had never seen from her? She immediately turned to face him in disbelief. Although she showed him her old works, she was still an unreliable artist. Her hands were rusty and she was never known for painting portraits before. She was currently working on a portrait of her husband, the future King, and it was meant for Troy's eyes only.

"Ryan, I'm afraid the piece I'm working on is not good for selling."

"Then, I'll buy your next piece." He shrugged lightly. "And the money can go directly into the funding for your addiction treatment clinics."

"You haven't even seen this piece; how could you be so sure that I'll be able to produce art of fine quality?"

"Your highness, you are the Princess and future Queen, anyone would pay to see your artwork."

And reality sank back under her skin. She was only loved for her title after all. Nobody really cared for her art, just her title. She was about to walk away from the oil painting isle and away from the blunt comment made by one of her subjects.

"We all have to start somewhere. You have a great start already to become an artist and not just known by being the princess, your highness." Ryan dared to say out loud.

That statement hit every nerve in Gabriella's body. All she ever wanted was to be a successful artist and she worked hard towards that goal. When she came home to marry the prince, all that was shattered and to be able to restore that dream once again was everything she ever wanted. And maybe there was nothing wrong with a princess that could paint her heart out. A princess who had her own dream aside from sitting in her royal palace.

"Do you care for some coffee, Ryan?" She turned to face him once again.

Relief flooded through Ryan's body when he heard the Princess's invite. He knew he always had a way of words and hitting the spot of every person he met. He was the most charming person he knew after all.

* * *

King John and Queen Lucille were having an afternoon tea when Chad was ordered to the tea room in the palace. Although Chad was Troy's personal assistant, he had his time with the Queen and His Majesty the King whenever they needed to deliver something to the Prince or needed something from the Prince.

Taylor McKessie, the Queen's personal assistant, called him to the tea room this afternoon for an important task regarding the Prince.

After his polite greetings to His Majesty the King and the Queen, Chad stood there in silence to take the royal orders.

"Mr. Danforth, I ask for you to come today because I would like for you to find a suitable picture of the Prince." The King spoke after setting down his tea cup. Canovian tea was very similar to English tea but with a twinge of French influence. Scones and soufflés were served along with the hot tea on expensive chinas.

"Your majesty, by picture suitable for the Prince, may I ask what that means?" Chad kept his arms straight down his sides as he asked in the most polite way possible. Addressing the King for anything was still more nerve-wracking than ever despite being a royal assistant for the past three years.

"No questions for now. I just need a recent picture taken of the Prince that can be used for official ceremonies. You will know in time. And since you're with the Prince almost all hours of the day, who else would be better and more trusting to help."

Confused but also honored to be trusted by the King, he wholeheartedly wanted to follow the order. That was the thing he learned by working with the royal family, questioning everything would only get him fired from one of the best jobs he'd ever had. It was better to not question the habits and orders by the royal family and follow it to the tee as much as he could.

"Absolutely, your majesty."

The Queen and the King were not seen together too often. Except for their afternoon teas and occasional family meetings, the King and Queen had separate bed chambers and did separate activities. They were a marriage of convenience and a very cooperative team. In the public eye, they were a highly functional couple and an icon for their small island. In private, they were cooperative and knew the extent and destinies of their lives. Love was there, but not a passionate one. Love was there out of respect and normalcy.

Taylor dismissed Chad from the extravagant tea room that had velvet wallpapers and portraits of the past kings and queens while the royal couple continued to enjoy their afternoon chat.

There were multiple storage rooms just for the Prince's baby pictures and two storage rooms for all of the portraits of the Prince that were more recent. Only the Prince and trusted assistants had access to such rooms. Aside from pictures of the Prince, there were also personal pictures of the royal family and a room to store all the pictures taken by the Prince for his personal enjoyment.

The rooms were the opposite of all the elegant tea rooms, ballrooms, and bedrooms of the rest of the palace. They had plain walls and was temperature controlled to store important information regarding the royal family. It was Chad's second time in these rooms. The first time he was here with Taylor, who was searching for a written record of the Queen's dietary habits back in the 1990s. He was still a trainee at the time and was warned that all the information in these rooms were highly confidential. Not only did it require a key to get in, but also face scans and fingerprint recognition.

Although it seemed too protective when it came to just portraits, many of these pictures were irreplaceable and had to be protected from fires and any one who tried to break into the palace.

As Chad found the room with the Prince's recent photoshoots and portraits, he twisted the key in the keyhole and stepped inside the room. There were rows and rows of candid photographs labeled with the event name and date.

While Chad looked through the pictures, he found a few suitable oil portraits. Although snapping pictures nowadays only took one millisecond, it was still a royal tradition to have portraits drawn and used for important events. Some of these portraits were hung in the various rooms of the palace.

There were parts of the palace that were out on display for the public to tour for a price. Older pictures of previous members of the royal family were hung in those places while most portraits of the current royal family were kept safely to be put up in a few years.

He picked through some of the canvases that had yet to be framed and found various portraits of the Prince in a suit or traditional Canovian attire. While looking through the paintings, he found the perfect picture of the Prince. His eyes were bluer than the water in the Atlantic, his hair was gelled back and his suit was the perfect gray that brought out all the color in the portrait. Chad thought he had finished his task until he looked on the bottom of the portrait where the paint had scratched off, giving it a major flaw.

He sighed out in frustration when he looked down at the broken paint only to find a wooden box sitting right in front of the broken paint. The small wooden box had 'T' engraved on one side, and 'S' engraved on the other. There were gold designs on it and a heart carved on the very top. He smiled at the box, thinking it was a wedding gift from the royal wedding that had been misplaced. He picked it up and opened it to find photographs packed tightly inside.

The first photograph Chad took out was of the Prince sitting on the couch playing video games. The couch was slightly battered and definitely seemed out of place if it was in the palace. This had to have been pictures from his years spent in London. The thought of this box being a wedding gift quickly left his mind when he looked at the second picture. There was a coffee mug in his hand while his homework was spread out on the dining table. The prince had longer hair that was loose and not the least bit styled and gelled back. He looked much younger and his razor stubble was almost non-existent. His clean shaven and wrinkle free face was a dead giveaway at how old this photograph must have been.

Chad looked at more of the photographs in the box and finally stumbled upon one where he posed with a female. The background looked like a nightclub and he had his hands around her waist as the blond lady smiled vibrantly in the picture. He took a closer look to find the face to be much more familiar than he thought. More pictures of the woman filled the box. Some of them kissing and some of them posing with other people.

His eyes widened and he gasped in shock when he realized who this woman in the picture was. It was his closest co-worker. The co-worker he talked to every day and organized affairs with. Ms. Sharpay Evans.

How could they possible know each other? He could have never guessed that they knew each other back in college, much less have been romantically involved.

Everything about these pictures screamed trouble and trouble that the Prince didn't need after the scandal with the Princess.

Chad had never been faced with this situation before. The most difficult task was remembering the types of wine that Prince enjoyed and the bathwater temperature he liked most. It had been a while since the Prince had a major scandal. If these pictures were released somehow or if the public found out Sharpay was working for Gabriella, scandal after scandal would erupt, ruining the Prince's damaged reputation once again.

As a loyal employee of the royal family, he knew the royal family needed to find out before Sharpay's motives would be revealed.

* * *

 ** _Sorry for the lack of Troyella, more is coming! Thanks for reading and please give me some feedback so I know what to improve on or what you like! Thanks for reading guys, it brightens my day to know you guys love my story!_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Putting her portrait of Troy on hold, Gabriella began working on the artwork Ryan basically ordered from her. Every cent of his check would go towards her fund to build addiction clinics. And every cent went towards rebuilding her image as Crown Princess.

The portrait of Troy sat in a corner of her office space with a cloth over it, preventing Troy from glancing at it.

She could hear the TV from their bedroom at full volume. Deciding it was time to stop painting for the night, she turned off the lights to her office space and stepped out into the bedroom.

Troy's eyes were on the flatscreen TV, but his brain was on a separate planet. It had been a week since their dinner with the diplomat, a week since he could have his wife in any shape or form.

They were married for Christ's sake, he couldn't believe how aroused he could feel just thinking about what happened in that bathroom. A sudden and sexy move on her part and a total surprise on his. From painting to meetings with her team organizing the fundraising for her charity project to more painting, Troy barely got to see his wife. And whenever he did, he could only hear the sound of her voice humming through their bathroom and his mind drifting off to sleep.

Tonight had to be the night. He had to have her once again. Whether it was physically or mentally, he didn't care. He just wanted Gabriella's presence and acknowledgement.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Gabriella standing by the doorway to her private office which connected to their bedroom.

Troy tried his best to keep his gaze forward and focused on their large screen television. Whether the movie was a comedy or a romance movie or a romantic comedy, he didn't care. It was all just a distraction to him until his wife landed herself in bed. He tried his best to act like he didn't notice her standing there by the doorway in a pair of sweatpants and a cropped t-shirt.

"What are you watching?" She asked as she walked towards the bed where Troy was sitting.

"Just a movie." He shifted awkwardly while letting out an equally as awkward laugh. These were parts of their relationship he didn't understand. How could they go from oral sex in a bathroom to awkward small talk despite the fact that they were married.

"Is it a good movie?" She stood towards the headboard of their king sized bed. Her body only centimeters part from Troy's.

"It's alright. I'm just kind of tired." He wanted to smack himself for saying that. He was anything but tired. Although he'd been waiting all night just for her to speak to him, he wasn't the least bit tired. He was ready for her to throw a curveball at him and do one of those unpredictable Gabriella things.

"Oh…" He could see her expression fall a bit. Her arms suddenly crossing in front of those beautiful small breasts. "I guess I'll shower up and get ready for bed then." She started to walk away from Troy and towards the long and grand hallway that lead to their bathroom.

The time read 3AM and it was a shocker that the two of them were still awake at this moment. Usually at this time of the night, one of them would be sound asleep already. She could feel a hint of disappointment in his quiet responses. What did she expect anyway? Did she expect her husband to jump onto her like an animal the moment she noticed him? She couldn't quite pinpoint where her disappointment stemmed from.

Maybe a nice warm shower was just what she needed. Some time to clear those nasal cavities and get her blood running through her veins.

"Gabriella, I'm not actually tired damn it." He called out after her scent trailed off along with her. He felt like a complete loser not knowing what to say to his wife. They were married after all, why was it still so hard just to express his desires?

She could feel her lips curve into a smile the moment he opened his mouth to make that statement. Of course he wasn't tired, what was she thinking? She was in a low cut tank top that showed half of her torso, how could any one be tired after seeing that? She giggled a little to herself before turning around and making her way back towards the bed. "Oh really, baby?" She said in a teasing voice when she plopped her bottom down on the mattress, sitting up straight and right beside Troy.

"I'm not tired at all actually. I feel very awake. I don't know what I was saying earlier."

Gabriella laughed at him before leaning in to place a kiss on his cheek, feeling his razor stubble scratch her lips. It reminded her how long it had been since her lips touched his or touched any part of him.

"I wonder if this is what normal couples do." She crossed her legs while sitting next to him, her head tilted to look at him. "Do they always get to be around each other and always watch movies together? I mean, I've never been married before this." She giggled a little. Sometimes it was still funny to say she was a married woman.

"I mean, they watch movies together and probably sit next to each other while talking about other couples. Don't you think so?" He smiled at her warmly. It was amazing to him how easily Gabriella made him smile or made him mad. She hit all the buttons in him.

"I mean I guess. I wonder if people talk about us at three in the morning. I bet people always wonder what we do when we're not photographed."

He nodded to her statement. How weird was it to be admired and thought about by so many people? Of course people of Canovia thought of them all the time. They were their icon after all. "So at least we're not so different after all. We watch movies like normal couples and we talk like a normal couple."

"Do you think I'm a normal wife?" She laughed after asking. They were anything but normal, but every moment they spent together felt just ordinary.

"I think you're extraordinarily beautiful yet normal as can be."

"Well isn't that so?" Gabriella slipped her hand down his arm to slowly intertwine their fingers together, her body feeling heated when their hands touched. Just like the way he held onto her hand at the restaurant last week. The softest and most innocent touch could make her heart race faster than before.

"Have you eaten?" He asked suddenly just as his thumb caressed the knuckle on the back of her thumb.

"How'd you know that I'm hungry?"

"Because I asked Sharpay and she told me that you haven't left your office since this morning." He said as he remembered his quick run-in with Sharpay as she was leaving the palace. Ever since he made love with Gabriella, he knew Sharpay was buried deep within his heart. It had been years since he talked to Sharpay and the old flames just didn't come back, not in the way he thought it might have.

He barely thought about his ex-girlfriend. And he'd like to think she was also fond of him as a friend.

"How sweet of Sharpay to tell you my dietary needs." She joked.

"Alright, let's get up." Troy stood up from his side of the bed while dragging Gabriella up with him. "Let's get you some food."

"Wait what?" She laughed at his sudden actions. Here she was, thinking they would just hang out in bed and maybe have that lead to something more than just 'hanging out'.

"Yep, I'm going to feed you." He made his way towards their bedroom door and twisted the knob to open the locked door.

"Troy, the chefs are gone at this time of the night." Gabriella reluctantly followed him behind, a little confused at his sudden adventurous mood. Usually she was the one that did the crazy deeds, what has she turned her husband into?

"Who needs a chef? We're not having a three-course meal if that's what you wanted. Sorry to disappoint."

In her sweatpants and cropped top, she walked out of their bedroom barefoot alongside her husband who only wore a wife beater and some basketball shorts.

They made their way down the long and dark hallway. Portraits of deceased member of the royal family on the walls covered in beautiful wallpaper.

The royal palace was a big place and full of long hallways and huge useless rooms that the family only used maybe once a year.

When they finally made their way into the giant kitchen, Troy shut the door behind him quietly, afraid to alarm any of the guards that might be near by. They were doomed if anyone knew they snuck into the kitchen. His parents always told him the kitchen was dangerous with hot oil and steaming hot water that could burn his skin, making him an ugly or disabled Prince. He barely cooked for himself. The only times he had stepped foot into the kitchen were when he was away in college. Even then, his parents hired a housekeeper for him once he moved to live in an apartment off campus. The housekeeper helped him cook his meals and clean up after him like the maids in the palace.

Needless to say, he barely cooked and didn't know how to cook.

"I thought you didn't know how to cook. Remember the room service breakfast you ordered me and that pathetic excuse of yours being not knowing how to cook?" Gabriella laughed at Troy walking over to the stove and looking down at it completely puzzled.

"Well, do you like cereal, Mrs. Bolton?" He walked over to the pantry that stored all the royal family's favorite snacks and dry groceries.

Gabriella followed behind him, her eyes scanning all the different boxed products in the pantry until her eyes landed on some corn tortillas at the very top shelf. "Grab the corn tortillas for me please." Tortillas were a staple in Gabriella's diet and the chefs in the royal palace learned her palette quickly, knowing they needed to include tortillas in her meal frequently.

He followed her directions and grabs the bag of tortillas.

"Let me teach you how to make this quick makeshift meal." There were two places Gabriella felt absolutely natural in. The kitchen and behind an easel.

She quickly made her way towards the oven that was embedded into the wall. _Perfect._ She thought to herself. The oven was big enough and had all the functions. This was better than the oven at her parent's house and definitely better than the one in her apartment back in Manhattan. "Preheat the oven for me please. Three hundred and seventy degrees."

He adjusted the knob to change the temperature in the oven as he stole a few glances at Gabriella who was now going through the vegetables in the fridge.

She takes out some tomatoes, spinach, and mozzarella cheese. Using a knife, she started to dice the tomatoes on a cutting board. She was fast and efficient when she was in the kitchen and he loved to watch her do the things she loved. In the back of his mind, he still thought about her outside of the palace, how vibrant she must have been when she was free to roam and free to imagine and act on everything.

"Get me the tortillas."

He handed the bag to her as she took them and pulled out two corn tortillas. She laid them flat on the table before sprinkling the tomatoes and spinach on it followed by the pieces of mozzarella she managed to cut up.

The oven beeped, perfect timing for the tortillas to go in.

Rolling the two tortillas into perfect looking wraps, she set them on a sheet with a smile on her face, proud of her masterpiece.

Gabriella looked over at Troy who stood there puzzled and not really sure what the next step would be. She motioned for him to set the tortillas in the oven, proud that she didn't have to open her mouth to let him know her orders.

He set the tortillas inside and then turned to look at his wife who was still smiling from her work on the tortillas and the food that was soon to be done.

"Set the timer for ten minutes." She ordered once again.

He obeyed without question, helping her set the timer. Watching his wife suddenly cut up a meal was like watching a cooking show on fast forward. She was phenomenal in what she did, so efficient and so full of life.

"Is this how you paint? In super speed?" He chuckled, watching her clean up the cutting board by the sink.

"No, when I paint, I paint according to my inspiration. I paint quicker when I'm more focused, slower when I'm not as inspired or motivated to."

He walked up behind her again, like the time in the kitchen of their hotel suite. He wrapped his hands around her hips and placed a kiss on the back of her neck, smiling the moment his lips touched her skin. "You're amazing."

Gabriella laughed at his sudden compliment, turning around to face him with a smile plastered on her face. "You know, I've never had a boyfriend that couldn't cook." She teased, giggling at her own statement.

"What do you mean?" His eyebrows arched to, suddenly insecure about his lack of kitchen skills.

"I mean, I never got to show off my cooking skills in my other relationships because they were all better cooks than me. I never had to."

"Should I be disqualified as your husband then?" He leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips, her body reacting immediately to his sign of affection, his touch never failing to send shivers down her spine.

Pulling away from the kiss, Gabriella could feel the brush of his lips lingering on her very own. It seemed like it had been a million years since she had those lips on hers, a million years too long. She looked up in his blue eyes, lost in that pool of warm and inviting thing she could feel seeping into her soul—love.

She suddenly wondered, how many women had he kissed the same way he had just kissed her? How many times had he hugged another woman from the back? How many times had he watched a woman cook for him and look into those blue eyes in the same loving expression? How many women did he miss in his life before he started to miss her?

"Did your ex-girlfriend know how to cook?"

What seemed like a silly and harmless question to Gabriella triggered all the parts of his brain to pull away from this loving moment and into the black hole of that big unknown truth. Something that he should have told Gabriella from the very beginning. His ex-girlfriend didn't cook much, and was the person that was always right beside Gabriella, more times than he had been.

His expression fell a little at the thought of Sharpay and at the thought of her brother Ryan. He looked into Gabriella's brown eyes and saw the headstrong woman he learned to admire, but also saw the innocence and how little she really knew of everyone around her and about all the people she thought she could trust.

"She didn't cook the same way you did, that's for sure." He tried to keep it simple and short, wanting no more questions to be asked before he imploded from guilt. This feeling of guilt could have been avoided if only he had told Gabriella from the beginning instead of trying to take matters into his own hands and keep it under the wraps. Now it was getting a little out of control with Ryan in the picture.

"What was her favorite food?" She was curious, curious about how his past girlfriends behaved and over all just curious about Troy before she married him.

"Eggplant Parmasean." He answered, remembering the times he had taken Sharpay out to an Italian restaurant and most memorably their first date. That was her go-to dish at every Italian restaurant. Her favorite dish of all.

"Funny you say that because Sharpay gave me a recipe for that the other day, she told me it was a family recipe of the Evans." That was a dish she wanted to learn how to make. She actually had never had a good Eggplant Parmesean before. "Is Eggplant Parmesean your favorite too? I've seen the chef prepare it a few times."

He couldn't tell whether he was happy or worried that Gabriella actually noticed what he ate. She noticed it so much that she even remembered that he had Eggplant Parmesean frequently. "Yes, actually." Eggplant Parmesean became his favorite as well after spending three years with Sharpay who insisted he tried it at least once. Once turned into twice and twice turned into it being a comfort meal and a comfort meal turned into a dish that he ate whenever he wanted to hold onto the memories of her after she left him there, stuck and not knowing how to go on without her by his side.

But now things were different. He ate the dish barely even thinking about Sharpay and the reason why he liked it. He just ate it like food, like food that he found comfort in.

"I'll keep that in mind." She had that eternal warm smile on her face as she drew little circles on his chest, enjoying their moment together, just standing there and talking, smiling and being with each other.

He looked down at her innocent smile and her tiny fingers. He had to tell her, had to be honest with her. They were going to have more nights like this, more conversations like this that would lead to questions. He couldn't let her put her trust and vivacious energy into these people around her that suppressed the truth, even if it meant that she would push him away at this very moment and go back to sleeping on the couch again. He had to let her know before someone else let her know.

"Gabriella, do you want to know about my ex-girlfriend?"

"No, not really. I mean did I ask too many questions? I'll stop, I understand if you don't want to talk about—"

"No, babe, that's not what I meant at all. You're not asking too many questions, I just thought maybe I'd tell you a thing or two about my ex-girlfriend that you might want to know." Might was an understatement. She had to know, she deserved to know, she didn't just 'might want to know'.

The oven beeped, and the smell of the tortillas filled the air in the kitchen, her face immediately lit up from the sound of her food being ready. Quickly, she pulled away from their position and opened the oven in excitement. "Hold that thought, Troy. I am hungry as fuck and I need to eat something before the world ends."

He groaned in frustration but not sure what he was frustrated at. The oven? Gabriella's hunger? His bad timing? He knew that the moment had passed, he couldn't get himself to be that brave again.

He didn't want to lose her energetic presence lighting up his heart every time they were together. He wanted her to be happy like this forever.

* * *

The next morning, she woke up with his arms wrapped around her waist and her head on his chest. After last night and the warmth of waking up next to Troy again, she knew she never wanted to sleep without him again. Tired after eating a late night meal, she insisted she wanted to just sleep and they did just that. He held her until she fell asleep, kissed the skin from her cheek to shoulders, telling her goodnight in his own little way until they were both asleep in each other's arms.

Gabriella looked over at his bare chest heaving up and down from his every breath. She loved him and she felt it deep and hard within her. She was falling for Troy Bolton and she finally wanted to admit it.

She sat up in their bed, stretching and ready to leave his side to take a shower before beginning her long and busy day.

"Where do you think you're going?" He grabbed onto her arm, his voice husky and half out of sleep.

"Trying to get ready and begin my day." She replied cockily. If only she could stay in bed with him all day or have breakfast in bed with him once again.

"I want a good morning kiss first. Seeing our constantly busy schedules, I don't know when I'll kiss you again." He dragged her back into bed, her body hovering over his.

"Why do you say that?" She placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I might have to fly to Denmark for two days to visit my cousin. He married a member of the Danish royal family." He moved a strand of her hair back behind her ears. "And then when I get back you might be busy."

"Well, if you put it that way, then a kiss should be in order." Gabriella leaned in and before she could lean in closer to close the gap between them, Troy pushed her head in as if he had been longing to kiss her for years despite kissing her just a few hours ago.

She never wanted the kiss to end and never wanted this morning to end. Everything was so perfect between them. Perhaps this perfection meant something was on deck, a bad event waiting to happen.

It was always like that. Could they go a week with just peace and quiet?

But they were anything but ordinary. Their lives were stressful in the eye of the public and numerous appearances to make and people to please.

Her lips moved against his slowly and tenderly at first but his aggressiveness quickly lead them into a lip biting and tongue fighting kiss which caused a moan to escape her lips.

The space between her thighs became heated and her cheeks flushed, he was too good at this. She wanted to just have him right inside of her, right where he belonged.

Gabriella was still lying on top of him, her legs now around his side, straddling him in a position that kept him grounded in bed. He could feel how much she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. He didn't have to ground her, she chose to stay and chose to kiss him in that lustful way.

Troy's hands laid on top of her bottom, cupping them in his hands as he kneaded them roughly, causing a grunt to leave her lips. He loved that, he loved this new sound he heard from her. Her reaction to his rough touch. Their kiss kept going and their lips were swollen between each other's, his kneading hands had a mind of its own, slapping her ass cheek as she bit down on his lips.

She broke away and gasped both for air and in surprise of his actions. Her gasp turned into a small giggle letting him know of her satisfaction. "I liked that." She whispered against his lips and enjoying their new form of passion.

Her lips landed on his neck, biting down on the flesh while his eyes rolled to the back in both pleasure and pain. "Shit, baby. That's going to leave a mark."

"I don't care." She didn't, she didn't care one bit at the moment. All she cared about was the passion in his eyes and the roughness of his kiss. She realized how much she missed him this past week.

Troy's hands slipped underneath her underwear. She had taken off her sweatpants before climbing into bed last night, he pulled the fabric down, almost ripping them off before Gabriella shifted her legs to let it slide down completely. She retreated her position back to straddling his waist, his hard on still clothed but rubbing against her now wet and naked lips down under.

Her head was hazy with desire and only one goal in her mind, she needed his shorts off now. She shifted her position once again to yank his shorts down, exposing his hard length right in front of her own wet self.

He winced at the cold air hitting his immensely hot and hard shaft, just waiting to be buried inside of her.

She angled her wetness right above his, sliding him in swiftly and deep inside of her, engulfing all of him inside as she started to move up and down slowly.

The sight of his own wife moving on top of him with her curls bouncing wildly on her shoulders and her cropped t-shirt still on, clothing the top of half of her body only made him more turned on. He wanted to rip that shirt off of her petite body and bite down on those perky nipples, hearing that grunt once again.

She moved quicker up and down, riding him wildly as his hands worked up her shoulders. Waves of pleasure almost breaking him the more she moved and the faster she moved on top of him. His hands were a mind of its own, yanking her shirt down further until the neckline hung off shoulder and ripping the thin material of the t-shirt to expose her breasts. "God, you're so beautiful, I just want to devour you."

He sat up, her legs still straddling him but now he needed to take control, he wanted it faster, harder, and deeper until she screamed out his name. Sitting up and placing his hands on her back to push her closer to him until there was no space between their bodies. Her breasts were pressed up again his own chest as his head dipped down, taking her right nipple into his mouth to suck and bite down on.

Gabriella gasped again feeling him shift inside of her from the shift in position. He thrusted up and so deep into her that her eyes rolled back, grunting out loudly and uncontrollably from the overwhelming pleasure of his lips on her breasts and her husband deep inside of her. The amount of pleasure she felt only made her wonder all the pleasure he must be feeling at the moment. Troy thrusted up inside her, pounding repeatedly with as much force as he could tender, his lips still on her nipple but as he sped up the pace of his thrusts, he could no longer keep his focus on her breasts, he parted from her skin connected them back in a broken kiss. Their lips parted from each other every second just to gasp for air or moan uncontrollably.

The pace of his thrusts caused Gabriella to tremble, her body vulnerable against his as from the wild rhythm. "Fuck fuck fuck…" She cursed when she felt the heat from her thighs start to rise and the immense pleasure completely unbearable. "Troy!" Her scream filled the room.

Just hearing Gabriella's voice and feeling her shake against him caused his own orgasm no longer suppressible. He groaned out loud when he felt Gabriella's walls clench around him, releasing all of him in her shortly after her own high.

"Oh my god…" She breathed while looking down on him, her legs still around his waist her position still sitting on top of him.

He was still sitting up, trying to comprehend what had just happened. They were both wet with sweat, her forehead glistening and his cheeks flushed slightly.

This was what love-making felt like in a rough, hot, and heavy session. She never wanted this to be the last time, Gabriella wanted this again and again for as long as she was alive.

He smiled at her glistening skin and leaned in, giving her the most tender kiss after a rough session.

Just as they were drowning in each other's lips once again, the door swung open and there stood Sharpay Evans who just walked in at the wrong-est of all times. "Good morning, your high—"

She immediately stopped speaking and the royal couple immediately snapped out of their little world, trying to gather the sheets to cover their bodies. "Sharpay, what the hell?" Gabriella exclaimed. She was usually polite to her assistant but walking in without her permission during her intimate time with her husband pushed her over the edge.

"Your highness, I am so sorry. I am so so so sorry." Sharpay turned around in attempt to un-see what she just saw. What she just saw affected her more than she'd like. It was more than just walking in on the Prince and the Princess's lovemaking session, it was seeing her ex-boyfriend in bed with another woman, glowing with happiness while she could do nothing but apologize.

"How did you get in?" Gabriella wrapped the sheet around her body since her shirt was practically savaged by Troy.

"it wasn't locked and I didn't think the Prince would be here, your highness. I thought he was already in Denmark, your royal highness."

"I can get you completely fired from this, Sharpay. You just came into my room without my permission. That alone can get you fired on the spot." Gabriella's voice was harsh, annoyed, and just embarrassed from someone walking in on them in their most intimate moments.

"I'm so sorry, your highness. I sincerely apologize." She turned back around now that the Princess and the Prince were both covered whether in sheets or clothes.

Troy looked at Sharpay awkwardly as they made brief eye contact. He didn't say anything, didn't defend her when Gabriella used that harsh tone with her. And all the things he should have said last night rushed back to him. _He still hadn't told Gabriella._

"I'll just leave now, your highness…I'm so sorry…" Sharpay started to hurry out towards the bedroom door, so affected with hints or jealousy and other emotions she couldn't put her finger on by the scene she witnessed that she could barely keep her balance on her tall shoes. As she tried to hurry out the room, her legs failed her causing her to twist her ankle and immediately fall to the ground.

The couple looked over at the thump by the bedroom door and Gabriella immediately spoke. "Are you okay, Sharpay?" Her annoyance was covered by her sudden concern seeing her assistant on the ground and her face wincing from the pain.

Troy immediately stood up and put on his wife-beater as he walked over to Sharpay, helping her get up. "You alright?"

"I'm fine…" She tried to stand up on her own but failed again, falling into Troy's grip.

"Troy, can you take her to the nurse? It looks really painful." Gabriella got up as well with her sheets wrapped around her, trying to help Sharpay up.

"Yeah, I think that's best. I'll be back." He pecked Gabriella's lips for a quick kiss.

Sharpay watched their little exchange of love, not knowing how to feel to see their affection in full blast this morning.

Troy and Sharpay headed out the door while Gabriella shut it behind them, she headed towards the bathroom, washing away the smell of sex to get ready for the day.

As Troy helped Sharpay limp all the way down two long hallways to the palace nurse, he helped situate her on the chair.

The nurse took a look at her ankle and nodded knowingly. "It's just a swollen ankle. It's twisted and just needs some rest. Nothing too serious." She smiled at Sharpay. "I'll go get some ice, I'll be right back."

Troy sat in the chair next to the diagnoses chair that Sharpay was sitting in, a painful expression still on her face.

"If you're okay, then I'm going to go." Troy stood up from his chair. Before he could take a step, Sharpay reached out her arm to pull him back into his seat.

"Wait… don't." She could hear her brother's words in his head. She didn't want to regret anything anymore, she wanted to have him at least for just one second. "I want to talk to you." She needed to have her feelings be known, she was done feeling these weird feelings that she couldn't pinpoint whether it was jealousy or hurt or happiness for the Princess.

"Actually, I think I need to talk to you too."

"Really?" She suddenly had hope again knowing he at least cared about her enough to have a conversation with her.

"I was thinking, I need to tell Gabriella about us."

"Why now?" She didn't understand this. Why did he feel the need to tell her now when he didn't bother to say anything in the beginning at all? All this time, he knew she was her assistant, why did it matter if she told her about their past relationship now?

"Because I think I love her, Sharpay. It sickens me when I see her trusting us, trusting you, and talking to Ryan when she knows nothing. We had a relationship in the past and it shouldn't matter now, it only matters because I never told her from the start."

She turned from being hopeful from being crushed in less than a second. To know that he loved her and he finally learned to love her was one of the most disappointing things she heard and she didn't know exactly why. "You love her?"

"Yes, Shar. I love her. I know that if I don't tell her now, I might actually lose her when she hears it from someone else. She's going to think there's something between us still because I never told her from the start." He didn't want her to hear it from someone else, that thought scared him shitless. He didn't want to come home one day and see her hurt or worse see her gone from their bedroom, in a guestroom, or back at her parent's home because she was so upset.

"What about me, Troy? I'm going to lose my job. She's going to hate me. I just bought a condo and I have car payments, I can't afford to just lose the best job I've ever had for nothing. Unlike you, I have bills to pay and need money to just exist." Aside from losing her job, her mom would force her to work with Ryan and doing things in her brother's shadows. She didn't want that, she wanted a life of her own and to achieve things on her own.

"Sharpay, I don't care. I don't want to care about things related to others. I'm tired of caring what the public thought or what my mom thinks. I want to do something for my marriage and for Gabriella." He cared about Sharpay as a friend but not nearly as much as Gabriella's emotional wellbeing.

Those words stung her hard, like thousands of bees all at once right into her heart. He didn't care about her anymore but she still had that slight hope, thinking he'd care. "Do I not matter to you at all? Did three years of dating mean nothing to you?"

"You did matter our relationship mattered and it still matters. It taught me so many things and shaped me as a man. You were my first love and I still have a place in my heart for that." He loved Sharpay, but that was the past and it was bound to stay in the past.

"You now what, Troy?" Suddenly, something in her snapped. She didn't matter. She never felt like she really mattered. All of the things she thought about him were too rosy to be true. If she mattered, their relationship wouldn't even be a secret. "Screw you. If I really mattered, you wouldn't have kept me a secret all these years. I don't know why I even care the least bit about you now. You're right, we were in the past. And like that day I left you, I knew it was over. I don't know why I have these stupid feelings sometimes, thinking you still cared." Her blood was boiling, he made her insides almost self-destruct from her own stupidity.

"Shar, I do—"

"I got the ice, your highness. I got it from here. Ms. Evans should be good as long as she rests a little." The nurse walked through the door with am ice pack.

"Thank you." Troy stood up from his seat, allowing the nurse to take a seat there, holding the ice at Sharpay's leg.

His eyes were still locked on Sharpay's cold stare as if the conversation wasn't over. But there wasn't much left to be said. He just needed to let Gabriella know about all this madness before someone else and he prayed to God that she wouldn't explode on him.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for all the reviews guys! I love reading them so much! Let me know what you think again :)**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Chad stood by the outside of the storage room— the same rooms he found those pictures in. Yesterday, he asked Taylor to meet him here today at two in the afternoon. The Prince was getting on a plane tomorrow afternoon and Chad would be busy packing and preparing for the Prince's schedule for when he arrives. He wouldn't be going with the Prince since he insisted he'd be fine with just the bodyguards. He needed to get things off his chest before the Prince leaves for two days.

Ever since he saw those pictures, he couldn't speak to Sharpay without seeing those pictures in his head. Those pictures weren't anything scandalous. They were just pictures of a couple in love, posing with their friends, and smiling. But he couldn't help the feeling of awkwardness in his chest whenever he was around Sharpay.

He finally heard Taylor's footsteps coming towards his way. He smiled at the woman before greeting her politely. "Good afternoon, Ms. McKessie."

"Hello, Mr. Danforth. I can call you Chad, right?" She stood in front of him, her back leaning against the wall.

"Of course." He didn't feel too comfortable addressing her by her first name. But he wasn't uptight enough to care about her way of addressing a coworker. "So I want to show you something I found the other day."

"Hit me with it." Taylor stood up straight again as Chad twisted the key in the keyhole to open up the door. They made their way towards the portrait once again, taking out the wooden box hidden next to the portrait.

"Take a look." Chad handed her the box.

Taylor looked at the box with a confused expression. She wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to open this box. It looked like it contained something private, something she had no business in knowing.

She looked back up at Chad to see him nodding, ensuring her to go ahead. Taylor opened the box and flipped through the pictures inside. At first, there were just pictures of the Prince during his days in London. But as she flipped through more of the pictures, she found pictures of a familiar face. Sharpay Evans.

While he nodded knowingly as the contents in the box and Taylor's reaction was exactly what he expected. "Yeah, I'm not just blind, right? That's Sharpay Evans."

"Wow…" Taylor bit down on her lip, not sure of what to do with this new found information. She had to let the Queen know, she was in charge of a lot of the affairs regarding the Princess and the Prince. She couldn't settle this on her own, it put the Prince's reputation on the line and that was not something she had the authority to jeopardize.

"Do you think Sharpay is up to something?" Chad asked. He, himself, wasn't too sure what Sharpay's intention was. Was she here to win the Prince back? To stir up a scandal for money?

"That girl is quiet and always does everything right." Taylor shook her head. "We can't fire her. We have to let the Queen know and see what she wants to do about this."

"But don't you think that's invading the Prince's privacy? I mean the Queen doesn't seem to know about this or else she would have said something at this point. She'd seen Sharpay quite a few times."

"You're right." Taylor sighed out in frustration. She was not paid to deal with things on this scale. "Maybe the Princess already knows this and she's okay with it? I feel like there's no need to make a big deal out of it if the Princess already knows that Ms. Evans is the Prince's ex."

"I don't think she knows. The Prince acts like a stranger in front of Ms. Evans. I'm with the Prince every day, he has never mentioned his past relationships before."

"This is tricky… I'll think up something but in the mean time, don't let this get out and just keep it on the down low. We don't need to accidentally leak this out to the public for them to exaggerate it in magazine articles."

* * *

Taylor sat across from Sharpay in the red tea room. A room filled with velvet wallpapers and usually occupied by the Queen and her guests.

Sharpay was invited to the room by Taylor this afternoon. As soon as she finished preparing the next day's schedule for the Princess, Sharpay curiously came to the location. She had never been able to sit down in one of these seats before. _This had to be some occasion._

"How's your ankle?" Taylor asked casually. Two cups of hot coffee sat on the table in front of the women. She was trying to get her thoughts straight in her head before attempting to ask the million-dollar question.

"It's fine, I'm just trying not to walk around too much for the rest of the day." Sharpay sipped on the hot beverage, not exactly liking the awkward tension between them.

"Do you like your job so far?"

"Yes, I love working with the Princess."

"What about the Prince?" Taylor fished, trying to work straight into the topic.

"He's very nice." Sharpay swallowed awkwardly and tried her best to act natural. Did she know something? Why was Taylor asking such personal questions? They barely spoke on a regular basis.

"Sharpay, I know about your past with the Prince. I saw pictures." She finally let out. There was no way to talk around the subject. She had to put it out there.

"What do you mean?" How did she find out? Did Troy tell her? Did Troy tell Gabriella? But why was Taylor the one speaking to her about it? There were so many questions rushing into her head at this moment.

"Call it the Prince being careless or memories being tossed out. Bottom line is, we know." Taylor sipped on the burning coffee while the tension stayed ice cold between the two coworkers.

This again. Again with the secrets. She was so sick of it. Sick of these royal people ordering her around, keeping everything a secret from each other. Sharpay let out a sarcastic chuckle as she put her mug of coffee down, the bitter aftertaste lingering in her mouth. "So what do you want? You want me to resign?"

Taylor sighed out before looking straight into the eyes of the woman in front of her. She didn't want to be this way, they were coworkers after all. Although Taylor was the head assistant, she felt a sense of sympathy for all the people she had trained. It was just a job after all, was it really necessary to be so cruel to a working class girl? But she had no choice, she couldn't let this get to the Queen and have her blamed for lack of judgment when hiring Sharpay.

Sharpay needed to be discharged or else hell would break loose and the media would jump at the opportunity in the future.

"How much money do you want?" The Queen walked in suddenly which caused the two women to tilt their head down in respect.

"Good afternoon, your royal highness." The two subordinates immediately greeted their Queen.

"Carry on." Queen Lucille sat down at the host's seat of the table. Her voice filled with seriousness. "Chad already told me. I saw him sneakily leave the storage room and I demanded him to tell me the situation." Queen Lucille looked over at Taylor before speaking again. "Taylor, did you really think that you could handle this all by yourself?"

"Your highness, I just didn't want to disturb you on such trivial matters."

"I don't want this to get to King John. So tell me Ms. Sharpay Evans, how much money do you want for compensation?"

"Excuse me… your highness." How could she be patronized so many times in just one day. First by her ex-boyfriend and then by Taylor and then now even the Queen saw no value in her. "Your royal highness, I enjoy my job so I don't want to be discharged for any compensation."

"How about fifty thousand?" Queen Lucille was stern with her words, she didn't intend to take them back or tried to eat them up again. She meant every word she said.

"I don't want your money."

"Okay what about two hundred thousand per year for the next five years?" There had to be a number to satisfy her. She was just a working class girl after all, money was what she was after when she signed up for this job anyway.

"No amount of money can buy my pride, your highness. I'm sick and tired of being a secret. The Prince's secret, your secret, and the royal family's secret. What did you want to do? Fire me and hide it from your beloved daughter-in-law? Try to avoid a scandal?" Sharpay couldn't take it anymore. Living in the shadows of her successful brother, living in the shadows of her ex-boyfriend, and being fired from a job that paid her bills and gave her a reason to prove to her parents about her ability. When was she not in the shadows? "You want to avoid a scandal? Avoid drama? Well I'll show you what a scandal is. I'll show you what drama is and I'll show you how much money I can make with a story like this."

Sharpay had never felt so good. She was out of the shadows, out of living as someone's secret. To hell with this job, to hell with everyone who treated her like a shadow. It was time for her to come out of the shadows, she was the star of this story, the star of a secret.

* * *

Gabriella was told that Sharpay's ankle was getting worse and after she rearranged her schedule and canceled some of her events, she practically disappeared. Taylor handed her the finished schedule and Sharpay was basically unreachable by phone with every call going to voicemail.

She was worried about Sharpay and felt horrible for yelling at her yesterday morning. The last thing Gabriella said to Sharpay was ask her to rearrange her schedule so she could try to fly out to Denmark with the Prince.

Here she was, at the airport and in their private waiting area to their private jet to Denmark.

"I can't believe that you rearranged everything just to travel with me, babe. When Chad told me this morning, I was so thrilled and so happy to have you come with me." Troy kissed Gabriella on the cheek before pulling away with a smile.

She loved making him smile and seeing him happy because of her, it made all the efforts worth it. "I had Sharpay work some magic on my schedule so here I am."

"Right." Troy's smile fell a little hearing the name Sharpay. It was time, time to tell Gabriella about everything the moment they arrive in Denmark and away from everyone. He felt horrible for thinking this but at least if he told her in Denmark, she couldn't run away from him or avoid him. At least it made it a little easier for things to patch up when they were forced to be near each other for two days.

"I'm going to go get some water and a snack." She stood up from the seat as a guard followed behind her to the snack bar by the public terminals.

Gabriella was getting quite used to these body guards. They followed her everywhere for her own safety. Especially at a busy place like the airport, the bodyguards will not let even a fly come close to her.

For a first time in a long time, Gabriella felt content. She felt like what she was supposed to be, a wife, a public figure who learned from her mistakes, and a woman who had her own dreams as well as interests.

It felt good to take control of her life and be the woman she wanted to be. Her art was getting the appreciation that it deserved and her love life was as exciting as ever. While walking up to the snack bar in sunglasses, she suddenly missed Sharpay. If Sharpay was here, she would get snacks for her and would know exactly what she liked. But due to the absence of her assistant, it was easier for her to get what she wanted on her own.

A bottle of water and a bag of barbecue chips was exactly what she needed at the moment. Gabriella grabbed the items and was about to walk up to the cashier before one of the guards stopped her. She sighed out and handed them her selections, letting them take care of a simple transaction for her.

While she waited for the guards to finish up the payment, a headline of a magazine caught her attention. _"How Princess Gabriella used her efforts for humanitarianism"_ Her smile expanded and her insides felt warm—warm with happiness for the first time in a long time. _She wasn't a failure at being Crown Princess._

The next magazine also had her picture on the cover but the headlines read something completely different. _"Secret affair with the Princess's assistant"_

She immediately picked up the magazine, flipping through the pages until she found the article.

" _Sharpay Evans, Princess Gabriella's personal assistant and sister of multi-millionaire Art investor Ryan Evans, comes clean about her relationship with the Prince. Sharpay Evans is a small town girl who lived in the suburbs of Canovine city. Growing up, she had decent grades and dreamed of going to college overseas. When she finally made it out of the town, she began studying at the University of Westminster as a Psychology major. She met our beloved Crown Prince Troy in London and began a three-year relationship with him._

 _Just as she thought things ended in London, things got serious again around a month ago when Sharpay reportedly stayed up all night with the Prince during his honeymoon in Bora Bora. 'He was my first love and my only serious relationship up to date.'…"_

Gabriella read word after word, sentence after sentence, and line after line in disbelief. It was only yesterday when Sharpay twisted her ankle but now she was reading an article about her assistant being her husband's secret girlfriend.

Quote after quote, Sharpay talked of how passionate their love was and how hard it was to be a secret for so long. Gabriella couldn't believe her eyes. Was this the face of betrayal? A pretty blond girl from small town Canovia who wore her hair up in a ponytail? How could she trust someone so much and then be betrayed by that person before the blink of her eye?

Suddenly, everything Troy said about his ex-girlfriend flooded into her mind. They both loved the same foods and Sharpay's leg injury after walking in on them together all seemed to make sense.

And Ryan was not a blessing but a curse. A curse sent to distract her from everything and fill through the cracks between all these secrets. Taylor was also keeping a secret from her by telling her Sharpay was too unwell to work today. People used secrets to cover up a secret and eventually everyone knew the secrets except for her. _She was the one they were all hiding from._

Gabriella clenched the magazine in her hand, her blood boiling and her eyes bursting with a gleam of hurt and anger. Just as things finally seemed to be going right again, everything falls apart. She stormed off back towards the private waiting area as the guards chased after her. She stood there right in front of where Troy was sitting, but only for a millisecond before her hand extended out and with as much force as she could render, her palm hit the side of Troy's cheek. His cheek turned beet red the second her hand hit his face.

Troy's eyes widened in utter shock. Just before she left to get a snack, she was still all smiles and kisses but right as she came back, she was greeted with a slap on the face and an angry Gabriella.

"What the fuck?" Troy exclaimed while holding the side of his face.

"What the fuck..?" Gabriella scoffed as she questioned him back. "Why don't you tell me what the fuck is up? I bet you wished you were going to Denmark with Sharpay right now, didn't you?"

"Babe, what are you talking about?" He could taste fear in her mouth, the fear that he never wanted to smell, touch, see, hear, or taste. The kind of fear that would cause him to lose her.

"Don't call me babe." Gabriella threw the magazine on the ground, the headline peeping through the crumpled paper.

"Shit, let me explain this please…" He couldn't believe this was happening. He was too late, he underestimated Sharpay and the cat was all out of the bag. An innocent secret could be all it took to lose the most important woman in his life. "I meant to tell you, I really did. I was scared and I'm a coward, I admit it—"

"So what they write is true? You dated Sharpay for three years?" She knew it would hurt to hear him admit to any part of this, but she was brave and she wanted to hear it. Pain is inevitable if she wanted the truth.

"I did. I don't love her anymore, I swear. Gabriella, there's nothing between us."

"That's not what it says in here. Sharpay talks about you like her own. She talks about you the way I think about you, Troy. She's still in love with you and you know it." Tears were welling up in her eyes again. This had become a regular feeling at this point, she felt numb. She was numb to tears, numb to tears that were shed due to being part of the royal family.

"Gabriella, she's crazy. We were the past and I swear I don't even think about her. All I think about is you."

"She says in this article that you guys spent time together in Bora Bora. You stayed up with her until sunrise." Her tears started to fall one by one the more she spoke. Memories of her worried state and sleepless night came back as fresh as the country air. She stayed up all night worried about him, thinking he ended up in a ditch somewhere. But no, he was with his ex-girlfriend, who also happened to be the one person she trusted the most. Betrayal was the only emotion she should feel. Anger was the only reaction she should have. But instead, she was hurt more than anything. Hurt that the people she trusted most were the people that kept these secrets from her.

All the times they could have come clean about everything and yet they chose to continue on with letting her look like a fool.

"Gabriella… it's not like that…" He didn't know what to say at this point. He wanted to just reach out and touch her, grab her, and pull her into his embrace. Or maybe rewind this moment so he could tell her before she read the magazine. He could see the hurt in her eyes, the heavy tears that fell, and the anger she tried to contain. And all of this was caused by him. It was his fault.

"And Ryan? You knew, didn't you? He must be here to distract me, get my art career going so I won't notice you going on dates with Sharpay, staying with her till sunrise doing everything you know I'd cry over."

"Gabriella, it's not what you think. I would never cheat on you. You're my one and only wife." He tried his hardest to contain himself and restrict himself from reaching out to hug her, hold her, and wipe those tears away. As hard as it was, he brought his eyes to look directly into her glossy orbs, seeing all the emotions behind it was painful for him. "I love you."

She shook her head as she bit down on her lips, suppressing her cry. She couldn't cry here in front of him, he didn't deserve to see it right now. He didn't deserve to see her moment of weakness.

It was all because she loved him. All this paint was because she loved him.

"We must start boarding, your royal highness." An airport staff, walked up to inform him urgently

"Your highness, we have to get going." One of the guards whispered to the Princess as he pointed to his watch. The Danish government was expecting his arrival at a specific time, and he needed to get there on time to have dinner with the Prime Minister.

Troy looked down at his own watch while letting out a sigh and he looked at Gabriella again. Her usual sharp-witted and vibrant self was gone as tears fell drop after drop. They streamed down the side of her face silently as her bottom lip quivered. To say he hated himself was an understatement, he hated how much of a coward he was and how he never knew what to say at the right time. He was scared, scared of the result and scared of the worst scenario.

This was beyond his worst scenario. His entire love life was made public and it was only a matter of time before Sharpay released photos for money and did interviews as well. It would only get uglier and uglier, messier and messier, and thinking about Gabriella's emotions was like having pins being stuck in his own heart.

Troy looked at the gate as the guard rushed him to start boarding. His eyes never left Gabriella when he started to walk away, her tears were like a waterfall and she couldn't get herself to make eye contact with him, much less go on a trip with him.

All she felt like was a fool, a fool for love and a fool for all the actors around her. They were all hiding from her.

 _She was the fool._

* * *

 ** _Thanks for all the reviews guys! I love reading the feedback. Let me know what you thought again! Thanks._**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Troy's mouth felt dry, his throat was dry, and even his skin felt itchy. The suffocating air of being up so high in the sky only made his mind feel even more clouded. He wanted to cry but he knew he had to keep a presentable face to the Danish Prime Minister. He wanted to drink wine and take shots of the most potent alcohol but he was the Prince of Canovia. He needed to be the strength of his people and the handsome and charming face of his own country.

He requested Chad to take the break he deserved as he would be traveling alone with just the guards. But right now he was starting to wonder whether letting Chad have a break was a good decision. He had a huge red spot on his face that he didn't know how to deal with. The guards busily tried to pat his face down with makeup that he always kept with him. Being the Prince meant looking on top of your game every moment you were out in the public. Having an emergency makeup kit was not uncommon for all the members of the royal family.

He felt the powdery texture of the makeup on his cheek and found himself drifting into thoughts again. Gabriella was supposed to be here next to him. But because of his coward self, Gabriella was crying in a corner somewhere.

Just thinking about not having Gabriella around the moment he stepped foot back in Canovia again made him physical ill. Fuck the public, fuck what Sharpay wanted, and fuck what these magazines wrote about him. All he wanted was Gabriella Montez Bolton in full form, next to him and in his arms. He didn't care about his reputation anymore; he didn't care about this dinner anymore.

The inevitable risk of death was the only thing that held him back from jumping out of this plane. And if he died, he wouldn't be able to win Gabriella back and would cause Gabriella to shed more tears. So that plan wouldn't work.

But then reality struck him, he couldn't just go back to Canovia and avoid his responsibilities. He had appearances to make and promises to keep to his people and the Danish people. This plane was where he belonged.

He let himself drift off to sleep and away from distracting and impulsive thoughts. He needed to recharge before arriving and putting on a fake smile to the public.

* * *

There are seven shades in the rainbow but Gabriella could see none of these colors right now. All she saw was grey, grey, and grey. Her life was back to where it was two months ago—a mess.

She was trapped once again in this world where she didn't belong. She was such an outsider that people didn't even care to tell her things she had the right to know. How could she feel bad for yelling at Sharpay when she should have slapped the shit out of her for going on a midnight date with her husband during their honeymoon.

Her things were stuffed into a luggage. She didn't pack much, just some clothes and her makeup, toothbrush, and hair brush. Where could she go anyway? Home? Would her father be ashamed that another scandal happened again?

It wasn't like she actually had a choice. She didn't want to stay in the palace and think about that bed, that office, and that bathroom. Every corner of the room reeked of memories that made her want to cry.

She had to be strong. It wasn't like Troy died or something. Maybe she was overreacting or maybe he just didn't know how to tell her the truth. But how could she believe him when Sharpay was claiming they went on a date together during their honeymoon? Troy didn't even deny the event, just the fact that there was nothing between them. How could she even buy that idea? Gabriella didn't know what to believe anymore.

No one around here could be trusted. She had to get away.

With everything packed, she zipped up the luggage and rolled it behind her as she walked out the door of their bedroom and down the long hallways that lead to the front door and out the gate.

The moment she stepped through the front gates of her own home, her mother was already out in the front yard with open arms. She knew. The rest of Canovia also knew and everything about this scandal was all over the news.

"Mija…" Her mother kissed the top of her head while they were locked in an embrace. "Is everything true?"

"Unfortunately." Gabriella could feel herself getting a bit teary eyed being in her mother's embrace while thinking about the ugly truth.

What else could go wrong? Her world was already flipped upside down once again and thinking about anything worse that can happen made her feel ill. She wanted this to be the last bad thing to happen to her in her lifetime but she knew that would be all too impossible.

It was hard enough dealing with an unfaithful husband by yourself, it only made it a little more unbearable when it was all over the news and women were using it as lunch time conversation topics. Radio shows discussed infidelity using the scandal as the topic, magazines all claimed to have the inside scoop on what was really going on and reporters were starting to camp outside her home once again.

Her phone buzzed in her purse and when she unzipped her Kate Spade black leather purse to fish her phone out, she already felt the anxiety of it being her own husband.

Troy Bolton: _"I want to hear your voice, please call me back_." There were texts after texts and voicemails that followed the missed calls. They were all from Troy and they all looked like the same exact message she had heard already.

Gabriella couldn't think, she couldn't even read these messages without wanting to cry. A bath was what she needed at the moment. A nice warm hot bath in her own bathtub and with her favorite bath bombs.

Her mother had already told the maid to set up Gabriella's room once again. They took her luggage up the stairs and as if they could read her mind, they were setting up the bath for her already.

It was good to be home, where she belonged and where she thrived.

* * *

It was nice to be able to travel without an assistant every once in a while. No one was there to constantly tell him his schedule or ask for what he needed. It was nice and quiet. He wanted the peace and quiet to be with Gabriella. But she was missing from the picture. She was missing from his side.

Troy laid in the king-sized bed with a sigh. He looked at his phone once again to find no missed calls and no texts from Gabriella. He wondered what was happening back in the palace or if Gabriella was even in their bedroom.

His thoughts never strayed away from Gabriella for more than two seconds. The Prime Minister didn't ask about the missing Princess because they knew. Who didn't know? He was a big cheater and everyone knew.

But the truth was he didn't cheat, he didn't ever think about Sharpay when he was with Gabriella. This was all exaggerated as a story to bring in money for Sharpay. It was all just a scandal made out of a simple point of miscommunication.

He stared at his phone long and hard, wanting a text to appear, wanting anything involving Gabriella to light up his phone.

As if the smartphone God answered his prayer, his phone started ringing but to his disappointment, the caller was not Gabriella but Taylor McKessie.

 _How strange_ , he thought. Taylor only ever contacted him when the Queen wanted to speak to him indirectly.

He slid his phone to answer the call and heard the woman on the other line.

"Your highness, I hope I'm not disturbing your rest."

"Absolutely not, what is it, Taylor?"

"Your highness, it has come to my attention that His Majesty the King collapsed. He fainted during a public appearance at the anti-poverty ball hosted by the Prime Minister's wife today."

"Wait, what?" His father was the strongest person he had ever known. How could he just collapse from nothing? Suddenly, his thoughts of Gabriella disappeared and all his worry concentrated on his own father.

"He heard about the magazine article and he just fainted. The palace doctor is tending to him now and he's still sleeping. The palace doctor said he had an acute heart attack, your highness."

His jaw dropped the moment he heard the words 'heart attack'. With a heart condition like this, it made the King unfit to be King anymore. Once the news gets out that the King had an illness, citizens of Canovia would know that, by tradition, the heir of the throne would have to take over.

Guilt trickled up to know it was all his fault that his father collapsed. He heard about the news and had such a shock that he had a heart attack. How could he not know that his own father already had a weak heart? Nobody ever told him anything about his father's health so he always assumed he was as healthy as he can be.

"Your highness, this means you must come back. We're preparing for your coronation."

Taylor's voice made him feel speechless. The same type of speechless he'd get with Gabriella when he didn't know how to react. He couldn't even tell whether he was reacting or not. Troy froze and his eyes were focused on the blank ceiling. This was his time, the time he knew would come one day but not this soon, and definitely not without his Queen.

"What about the scandal?" He questioned Taylor, finally breaking the silence.

"It doesn't matter at this point, your highness. You must fly home and make a statement right away. A press conference is necessary in order to continue with the coronation."

A King. He was going to be King. He was going to be head of state of his beloved country. He wasn't ready for his people and his people might not even be ready for him. "But what about the Princess? Did you tell her yet?"

"I left her a message, your highness. She should be crowned Queen as well, your royal highness."

"Is she in the palace right now?"

"Your highness, she left earlier and I believe she is at her parents' home for the weekend."

Of course. What did he expect? Did he expect his wife to sleep in their bed waiting for his return after what happened?

"Okay, I'll be flying back tonight. Notify Chad."

"He's already on it, your highness. We will be waiting for your return."

It was time, time for him to take on the challenges of being head of state and continuing on with or without a Queen.

* * *

Not a single missed call for the last twelve hours. It made her feel empty inside but she couldn't pinpoint the exact reason. She loved him and she still did. Did Troy stop caring about her? Or was he giving her space? Maybe she overreacted with the whole situation.

Missed calls from Taylor McKessie filled her screen. She was scared to call back and scared to listen to the voicemails. She didn't want to go back to the palace, she wasn't ready yet.

At least in the confines of her own home, it didn't smell like Troy and didn't make her think of Sharpay and all the betrayal.

But she was still the Princess after all, avoiding responsibilities wouldn't get her anywhere.

She sighed and unlocked her phone to listen to her three voicemails.

" _Your highness, this is Taylor McKessie. The Prince will be having a coronation ceremony this Tuesday. He is flying back from Denmark right now to see His Majesty the King. His Majesty is still resting and being checked up by the Palace doctor, his condition is stable but is unable to do physical activities. Please give me a call back, your royal highness."_

She listened to the other two voicemails to find Taylor explaining the King's collapse and their plans of crowning Troy as King in the next two days.

Gabriella couldn't believe her ears. First, she found out about Troy's infidelity and then now she had to be by his side during his coronation. She felt disgusting like dirt. It was as if the scandal no longer mattered.

And then there was His Majesty the King, her father in law. The royal family was a royal mess but was it really up to her to help fix? She was just a royal family member by marriage. One moment the public praised her, the next they forget everything that Sharpay Evans said in interviews. The public cared about the Prince, not her.

Maybe it wouldn't even matter if she showed up to the coronation or not.

Gabriella pressed on her internet browser on her phone and searched for the best flower shop in the city. A nice bouquet of flowers was in order as a gesture of care for the King, her father in law. Although they barely had a conversation before, she couldn't be so heartless as to leave with not even a care for the rest of the royal family.

A bouquet of flowers was definitely in order.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading guys! I just got back to college and things are gonna be a little busier. But I'll update as much as I can as this story comes to an end. Please let me know what you thought!**_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

The moment Troy arrived home, he immediately rushed to his father's side. He didn't know what to expect. Should he expect Gabriella to be there? Should he expect his father to be able to open his eyes and talk to him?

There were so many things unknown and so many responsibilities to take on.

With Chad by his side, Troy stepped inside the King's bedroom to see his own assistant and his mother by his side.

"Father…" Troy voiced the moment he was beside his father. He seemed so weak compared to a week ago when he last spoke to him.

"Troy…" He sat up with the help of the palace nurse. His large bedroom and elegant bedspace was usually only occupied by the King himself. But with his health failing suddenly, there were more assistants than usual and two different nurses taking care of him. And on top of that, the Queen was constantly by his side along with Taylor McKessie. "You will be a great King, son." He spoke weakly.

"I hope so, father." He didn't know whether he was even a good Prince. With all these scandals, he could only imagine how much pressure there would be as the nation's head of state.

"I know so, Troy. Despite all these scandals." He coughed a little after speaking. The nurse immediately poured him a glass of water after hearing his cough. The King waved the nurses away as he wanted this moment to be between himself and Troy. "I already asked Chad to find a suitable portrait of you last week. My health hasn't been too well since the beginning of this year. But I told everyone not to tell you and the Princess and not to tell the public. I didn't want you guys to worry about me."

"Father, we are your family." Seeing his father in this state made Troy feel a pit of sadness within him. He wondered how much pain he felt during the heart attack and how much responsibility he was about to give up. He had been King for decades, was it so easy to just give it all up over an illness?

"Your majesty, the Princess sent flowers." A guard walked in from the outside of his bedroom. The King nodded as the guards walked over with the large bouquet of peonies and lilies. A card was embedded inside the beautiful flowers

Words of encouragement and a standard 'Get well soon' was handwritten in the card. The King nodded with a smile after reading the card and seeing the flowers. He knew exactly why his daughter-in-law couldn't be here for him, he had heard about the scandal in too many forms. Although he felt furious, almost as furious as he felt when the Prince got in trouble in London, he realized now is not the time to be disappointed. Now it was the time to set all of that aside and go on with the coronation. The royal family was a symbol for their little nation and they couldn't let a scandal consume their lives.

"Your highness, the press conference is in thirty minutes." Chad reminded Troy quietly as the Prince stared at the flowers and the card. Was Gabriella so hurt that she couldn't set that aside to see her ill father-in-law? He didn't know how to feel. He was angry at how immature she could be, but also immensely guilty for causing this entire scandal.

There was no getting over it for Gabriella. She wasn't a woman that let things off easily and this just completely proved her headstrong personality.

Troy turned his attention towards Chad and nodded knowingly. It was time for the press conference to clear the air about this ridiculous miscommunication gone wild. He was ready, ready to be there for his people—with or without her.

* * *

Gabriella switched the TV on in her room as she ate ice cream out of the carton in her bed. This was what girls in American movies did all the time, they ate ice cream when they're upset about their marriage or relationship. Wasn't it supposed to make her feel better?

But for some reason, she felt anything but better. She felt worse because the live press conference was going on right now. Taylor left more voicemails and informed her that the Prince would be having a press conference broadcasted live on the local station.

She couldn't get herself not to care about the situation at all. Of course she cared about him. She cared so much and too much about him.

"What Miss Sharpay Evans mentioned in her interviews is not all false, yet not all true. Yes, Miss Evans and I dated for three years while we attended the same university in London. We met when we were teenagers and she got me through a lot of hardships while being away from home and I forever thank Miss Evans for that. While our relationship lasted, I learned a lot from Miss Evans but one thing I never learned or realized about Miss Evans was how easily a person could sell him/herself out for money."

Gabriella watched intently, the ice cream in her lap suddenly not even of importance. Her eyes were glued to the screen, reading her husband's every emotion and facial contraction.

"Because I still cared about her as a person and as a friend, I didn't want to make a big deal about her working for my wife, who also happens to be the Crown Princess. I made a mistake in trusting an old friend and believing in the character of someone I used to know and I sincerely apologize to those I have hurt because of this. I am not here to blame Miss Evans or put myself on a pedestal. I am here today to tell you all the truth."

She realized she never even gave him a chance to hear his side of the story. Because she was so angry and overwhelmed with emotions, she didn't even allow him to speak for himself or defend himself properly.

"I am married to one woman and one woman only. Princess Gabriella is a woman I love so dearly and more than any woman in this entire world. And to know that I have hurt her the most out of everyone eats me alive every single minute and every single second. Miss Sharpay Evans and I did not go on a date in Bora Bora. The only date I went on during my honeymoon is with my lawful wife, Gabriella Montez Bolton. Miss Evans and I did spend time together but only as friends. Nothing happened between us and therefore there was no hint of any sexual relations or even romantic intentions. As a lawful husband in my own holy matrimony, I believe in my faith and loyalty to my marriage. I, Troy Bolton III, only have one and only one woman whom I love romantically and that is Crown Princess Gabriella Bolton."

From the way the corner of his lips twitch slightly to his swallowing mid-speech, Gabriella could see the glossiness in his eyes. Every word spoken just then was as genuine as an uncut diamond, and as pure as the clear water which runs through our springs.

She never knew how much she could read into a live television broadcast. Their marriage was a symbol and an idea for their citizens. The rest of Canovia felt the same pain when they read the article, they felt the emotions of her marriage falling apart as well.

And here he was, the love of her life, apologizing and finally telling her the truth on live television despite the embarrassment. She found love in a marriage she thought was for show, a marriage with no substance to begin with that blossomed into a love she had never felt before.

* * *

Calling and texting Gabriella in hopes of just hearing her voice was one thing that had fallen off Troy's list. Ever since he made that public announcement and still had not heard from his wife, he tried not to put his hopes up too high. His father was ill and his coronation was in an hour, there was no time to think about emotions he couldn't control.

He figured she might need space before showing up at the coronation in an hour. She still hadn't been back to the palace at all despite his father's condition.

At a time as hard as this, his wife wasn't there to stand by him. She was nowhere to be found, no where to be seen. There wasn't a single text or a single call. He had lost his queen.

If Gabriella were to be missing from the coronation, he would be crowned King without his beloved queen, so what was next for them? Divorce?

Just thinking about a royal divorce already seems like a mess.

"Are we ready to begin the ceremony?" Troy asked the guards around him. The guards looked at each other with a clueless expression before one of them left to ask the assistants setting up for the big event.

Before Troy could even think about Gabriella again, the ceremony seemed to have begun. Hours of anxiety and wondering about divorce went past him without a sense of time. Without his queen by his side, he felt numb and incomplete. He knew he needed to take on the responsibility as his nation's king but it all seemed too surreal without Gabriella.

She didn't even show up to visit the King. She obviously didn't care about his family as much as he thought. These conflicting thoughts in his head were driving him insane. One moment he missed her but then the next his head was telling him how stubborn she was and how much better he would be without her. If she couldn't even believe her after he had given that speech at the press conference, then what was their marriage even about? How real was their love if there was no trust?

Crowning the new king was a once in a lifetime event for a lot of people. The abbey was beautiful and all the jewelry and the diamonds on the crown were one of a kind. Once the crowning of the nation's head of state was finished, it was time to crown the beloved queen and mother of all people of Canovia.

He could taste nervousness in his mouth, he wasn't sure what that tasted like exactly but it was nerve wrecking for sure. He wanted to close his eyes and ears so he didn't have to hear whether or not there was even a crowning for a queen tonight. He hadn't seen her all night and he hadn't heard from Taylor all the day. He had no way of predicting the outcome whatsoever.

And when the man narrating the coronation opened his mouth, he could see it in slow motion in his head, there was indeed a queen and it was his queen—his one and only.

Troy's eyes widened as he watched Gabriella walk down the isle of the abbey and onto the little stage where he sat on his throne. Her hair was curled, her makeup was heavy and her red lipstick was bolder than any red he'd ever seen. She was just as vibrant as their wedding, she was beautiful and she was going to be his queen.

Gabriella was always full of surprises and this one definitely took it home.

She was here, right next to him in her own chair, her own throne and smiling for her people.

He was so happy that she was here next to him. He hoped to God that she didn't just do this for show and she meant that radiant smile of hers.

Just as the ceremony came to an end, she turned towards him and gave him the most genuine smile of all, the most important smile of his life.

He had her again, this was real and this was his queen.

He was confused all over again. The missed calls, the texts, and all the other things that seemed like signs of no recovery but she was right here next to him as they smiled.

If this was a dream, it was preferred that he never woke up.

Never again would he let her slip right through his fingers… again.

* * *

 _ **Sorry for the wait, I'm really stressed out about school work but I promise I will keep updating as much as I can! Please let me know what you guys think! I also have a new story in the works for after this ends, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading!**_


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Troy pinched himself over and over again. He didn't want this all to be just a dream. He was just crowned King along with her Queen whom he thought he lost from miscommunication.

He looked around his room with a sigh. He still had the same room, the same life behind the palace doors. Being a King was definitely overrated in fairytales and so was being a Prince.

Gabriella walked through the doors of their bedroom and immediately darted towards the closet. There wasn't a smile or any words, just the action of walking past him without any intention to say a word.

"Gabriella…" Troy walked behind here and followed her towards the closet.

"I'm here to pack more of my clothes."

"Babe, we're King and Queen now… I thought things—" Troy stood behind her as he watched her grab shirt after shirt, and different pairs of jeans off the racks.

"When I married you, I also married the entire nation. I have the duty to be there for my citizens."

As if all the smiling at the coronation today was just an act, he sighed once again. His frustration for himself and for her was quickly building up to an explosion. Everything he said at the press conference was true and came from the bottom of his heart. He never cheated on her and he never will. The only woman he loved in life was Gabriella Montez Bolton and will always be Gabriella Montez Bolton. "Gabriella, did you watch my press conference?"

"Yes."

"What I said was all true… everything. I meant everything I said."

"Troy, I don't want to talk about this right now—"

"I don't care if you want to talk about this or not, we are talking about it." He had had enough of the games and avoidance. Fuck the outcome of it all. If she wasn't going to listen to what he had to say then there was no point in being a couple, no point in finding love together again. "What I did was something cowardly. I should have told you straight up about Sharpay so that you didn't have to find out in such a humiliating way. If I were you, I'd be furious as well. I'd hate me too, but I'd stop hating me when I realized how amazing we are. How amazing everything we have is. We're King and Queen now, we're the icons and idols of our people. What we have is beyond anything I've ever had and anything I've ever imagined before. No one can compare. Sharpay was years ago and my feelings were long gone. I love you, Gabriella Bolton. You and only you."

She couldn't help herself from smiling as her back faced him. His confession was from a man to a woman, not a man to a nation. He loved her just as much as she did. They had something incredible, something irreplaceable. She heard it live, right there in human form. There wasn't a crowd to please, face to save. Just raw human emotions.

Gabriella spun around and immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing his head down to meet her height for an urgent and passionate kiss. Just like their kiss in Bora Bora all over again, she felt the same spark, the same type of incredible warmth.

Shocked at the sudden display of affection, he held onto her waist as their lips reunited in their own shape that fit perfectly like two puzzle pieces.

Their lips mingled in their own unique rhythm before pulling away for air. "I love you too, Troy Bolton." She breathed out with a smile on her face.

For the first time, he heard those words escape her lips and they were the sweetest words he had ever heard. "Don't take off on me like that, ever again." Troy's lips curved into a smile before leaning down to kiss her again, this time sweet and tender.

His hands slipped further down until they cupped her bottom. She had changed out of her gown right after the coronation and was in a pair of leggings with an oversized t-shirt. Her hands snaked down his torso and slipped underneath his t-shirt.

Their kiss stayed tender and their touch was sensual while feeling the skin to skin contact.

The kiss only preluded to the session that followed, clothes came off like their own art form and they celebrated the coronation in their own way.

* * *

It was like a dream again, her soft curves laid next to his body while his hands ran down her side to explore all the hills of her body. He had her in full again and last night was proof of it.

Gabriella's eyes fluttered open as she smiled the moment she felt his hands on her body. They were finally back in each other's arms again and this was what love felt like in its ultimate form.

She turned around to face him directly. Her eyes gazed into his as the sunlight crept through the curtains.

"Good morning, babe." She smiled at her newly crowned King.

"How was it sleeping in our bed again, my Queen?" He chuckled huskily.

"Fantastic. It's nice and warm and of course big enough for us to sprawl across." Gabriella laughed softly at the cheesy way he addressed her. This was like the night after their wedding. Although they never consummated their marriage the night of their wedding, this felt like a make-up session, this was their wedding night and their morning after glow of being officially together—conjoined in a legal union as King and Queen.

Troy watched Gabriella as her smile glowed under the sunlight. Her hair was soft and her curls sprawled across the pillow as he reached out to grab onto the side of her face to pull her head closer until their lips were just millimeters apart.

Their lips were stopped from connecting when Gabriella pushed his head away playfully, her body pressed up against his under the sheets. "Morning breath…" She groaned with a pout.

He rolled his eyes at her remark, they were married and they've woken up in this bed a myriad of times and yet she was still worried about shocking him with a phenomenon that happened to every woman and human being on this planet. He ignored her comment and pushed her head closer again until his kiss was pressed onto her lips, devouring her insecurity on her morning breath and pushing that thought right out of her mind.

His kiss was pressed onto her harder than she expected, causing her to moan in ecstasy. How could she have possibly been mad at this man and separated from him for over a seven days? He was the one she wanted to kiss for the rest of her life and wake up to for the rest of eternity. She loved being in love with him, she loved him.

His tongue slipped between her lips and explored the corners of her mouth. The familiar ridges of her mouth always made him smile and the way her lips clung onto his bottom lip only made him push her head closer.

Troy's hands moved down her body until he grabbed onto her bottom, cupping it in his hand as he squeezed a naked cheek, giving her a light slap before moving his hands down her smooth thighs.

Gabriella moaned softly before gasping at his action. Oh how she missed out this past week, instead of sleeping next to him and waking up to the sweet taste of his kiss, she was alone in her bed eating ice cream and thinking about all the bullshit Sharpay spat out.

His lips moved down her chin, peppering kisses all the way down her neck and her petite breasts. He licked her raised nipple sensually, causing her eyes to roll back in the cold air hitting her her now hardened nipple.

Troy's lips curved into a smirk before he left a trail of kisses down her stomach and until he reached her already wet folds.

Her gasp sent chills down Troy's spine as he licked from her folds up to her clit. He sucked onto the skin hard—smacking noises filled the room before he returned his slow licking motions up and down her folds. His tongue swirled around her folds. Every moment his lips detached even slightly from her folds, he could feel her breathing quicken and hear her chest rise and fall to the intensity of pleasure she was feeling.

"Remember when you blew me in the bathroom?" Troy chuckled as he broke away from her folds to catch a breath.

"Y-Yes…" Her breath was still hitched in her throat as she barely made out one syllable past her lips.

"This is my turn for you to enjoy yourself as much as I did." He immediately returned his attention back to the folds right in front of him. Sucking, licking and letting his hot breath breathe against her most intimate area drove her wild.

Gabriella could feel herself getting closer and closer to the ultimate release of pleasure. The pleasure clouded her mind and she could swear there was nothing on this Earth besides him. There were no walls, no boundaries, and no responsibilities, just pleasure and the goal to finally reach the ultimate high.

He continued his teasing actions until her legs shook and her eyes rolled back in pleasure before shutting them entirely. She savored the short high before catching her breath upon her release.

Troy kissed up her now flushed skin and laid down next to her again, holding her in his arms tightly while she caught her breath.

"And that is how a Queen should feel every morning." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead before they both broke into laughter at his cheesy line.

"You know… I'm thinking about getting myself off birth control." Gabriella looked up into Troy's eyes while her head laid on his chest. She was scared of his reaction but at the same time knew that they owed it to their nation to bring an heir or heiress into the royal family.

"You think it's time, babe?" Children were always in Troy's plans. He was a Prince and now a King. It was almost part of his duty to bring an heir to the throne for the next generation. Although he hadn't thought about it too much, he knew that one day he wanted to have their own little prince or princess with his Queen.

"Maybe… I just think that with all the craziness aside, we'll eventually be able to start a family and have our own royal family."

"Maybe." He chuckled before leaning in to place a kiss on her lips. A kiss that marked a new beginning in a new chapter of their lives and possibly a new chapter in their marriage.

These were the moments she wanted in life. The moments where they laughed, made love, and held each other despite their myriad of responsibilities as their nation's young King and Queen.

* * *

"Your royal highness, her name is Bridgit Cole and she will be your new assistant starting from today. She is well trained and extremely experienced with the service industry." Taylor introduced the short green eyed red-head to Gabriella as she took a bite of her breakfast omelet.

"Oh hello there." Gabriella flashed a smile before Bridgit said her proper greetings.

She was everything opposite of Sharpay. No more blondes, no more brown eyed girls. Taylor was good at her job and good at reading people. She knew after the scandal she needed to hire someone that had no trace of Sharpay whatsoever. She even went as far as running a full background check.

And to Taylor's relief, Gabriella seemed to be fond of her selection.

After Sharpay sold her story for millions, she decided to go back to school for a masters while Ryan Evans was practically banned from ever stepping foot in the palace again.

To say that the new Queen was over the whole scandal would definitely be a lie. She was nowhere near over it but trying her hardest to move past it.

Taylor couldn't blame her. Being a woman was already hard enough but being a woman with the power to influence an entire nation of people must be even harder.

Although drama and scandals would never go extinct in the Canovian Royal Family, there were times of peace and times of happiness. So until the next exciting or upsetting thing happens with the royal family of Canovia, they would always just hold onto that little bit of peace and that little bit of warmth that sometimes walked down the cold palace floors.

* * *

 _ **Thanks for reading my story! Unfortunately this is the last chapter. I hope it didn't seem to rushed. I just felt like one more chapter would be unnecessary but this seemed a bit fast too so I wasn't sure. I just figured as long as I explained what happened to Sharpay and give some major Troyella fluff, this would end on a good note. Thanks for supporting this story guys! I have a new story out, it's called Lights, Camera, Rewind and I hope you guys check it out if you guys enjoyed this story. Thanks again and I hope you guys check out my new HSM story!**_


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